Favourites – Tiny In Toronto

February Favourites 2022

Happy March! We’ve started a new month and that means it’s time for a new set of favourites! If you’re new to my blog, welcome! And something I love to blog about are the things that I’ve been loving monthly. At the start of a new month, I like to share the things that I discovered or rediscovered and enjoyed most during the past month. Today I’ll be sharing everything I loved throughout the month of February. I’ve got quite a few exciting things to share. It’s always interesting to remember how short February is. To be honest, it was a little difficult coming up with a decent amount of favourites. February kind of flew by for me. Did it fly by for you? We’re already in our third month of the year!

Anyways, here are my February faves!

1. Smoothies – My roommate left me her Magic Bullet even though I’ve never made my own smoothies before lol. So I thought that since it’s here, why not try it? This will come as no surprise but for the past month I’ve been making all different kinds of smoothies, and I’ve been LOVING it. It’s funny because when I love something, I kind of love the crap out of it. Basically, until I get absolutely sick of smoothies, I can guarantee you that I will have one almost every day. Got any smoothie recipes that I should try? I’ve just been buying a mix of frozen fruit, and adding a combination of the following: bananas, Greek yogurt, and oat milk. I thought about protein powders but I have no idea where to start. I’m not really looking to gain anything either than something healthy and delicious!

2. People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry – I reviewed this book in my last post. If you read that, you know how much I enjoyed reading this book, and how much I highly recommend it! It’s probably my favourite book that I’ve read so far this year. It was just everything I needed. I think one of my absolute favourite genres when it comes to books is romance. It might have been how I started loving books to begin with! Actually, I don’t think there was much romance in Junie B. Jones novels lol. All I’m trying to say is that this book came to me at the right time, and maybe that’s why I loved it so much. If you’re looking for a good book to make you love love again, try this one!

3. Crochet Flowers – Henri Purnell is someone I recently discovered on YouTube. I think his video where he crochets a bouquet of flowers just popped up on my home page! If you want to watch it, I’ll link it here: Crochet Flower Bouquet by Henri Purnell I now follow him on Instagram and love everything that he crochets. I’ve never been that crazy for flowers because I don’t like that they die so quickly. I just take photos of them whenever I go on walks ha-ha. It seems like a waste of money to me! Why buy an expensive bouquet of flowers only to watch them sit in a vase and die throughout the week? I mean, if you have the money to spend, I guess it’s a different story. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is that crocheting these flowers in February really solved all my problems. I have a little flower arrangement that’s never going to die! How great is that?! They’re really easy to make. All you need is wire, yarn, a glue gun, and basic crochet skills.

4. Poshmark – When I post this, it will be the day before I share some exciting news. You’re hearing it here first: I’ve partnered with Poshmark Canada!!! They reached out to me wanting to partner and I was more than happy to. I was able to pick a few pieces that I wanted off their app and style them in a Reel that like I said, will be up and ready to watch tomorrow. I can’t wait for you to see it! I managed to pick up 4 great pieces that I’m excited to style in a number of different ways. When I was browsing the Poshmark app for these pieces to style, I didn’t realize how much fun it could be to basically thrift online. You all know how much I love thrifting. This has made it a whole other ball game. I’m OBSESSED. I have so many other pieces saved on Poshmark to buy later. I found a ton of amazing vintage pieces. I also posted a lot of clothes from my own wardrobe to sell. I really think that I’m going to be using Poshmark to sell old pieces, and then use that money to buy the pieces on my Poshmark wish list. This way I feel like I’m not even losing money! If you would like $15 off your first Poshmark purchase, use my code “tinyintoronto”! Click here for $15 off!

5. Granny Square Balaclava – February was fashion month. It’s probably one of the most exciting months for me. I can’t attend any of the shows but I’m satisfied with just browsing the street style online. The outfits are always so fun and creative. They inspire me to mix up my wardrobe and try new things. I can’t begin to explain to you how much I enjoy it – I love it so much! There were a couple of photos of this one woman that I didn’t recognize at NYFW. She was wearing a balaclava made with crocheted black and white granny squares. It looked absolutely amazing so obviously, I recreated it. Here are the photos of this mystery woman (if you know her, let me know! I’d love to see her Instagram ha-ha):

It’s starting to get warmer and rainy here in Toronto, so I don’t know how long I have to wear the one I made. I guess there’s always next year. Here is the balaclava I made myself:

A blog post of me wearing it is coming soon!

6. Oscar Nom: King Richard – I feel like I’ve already told you that I watch as many Oscar nominations as possible before the actual award show. This year the Oscars will be live on March 27, 2022. I’ve been pretty good at tackling my list so far. There are a few that I might have to watch in theatres. God, when was the last time I watched a movie in a theatre? I honestly can’t even remember! Anyways, King Richard was one that stood out to me last month. It’s about Venus and Serena Williams’ father, and how the girls got to where they are today. It was so well done. I loved it. I hope Will Smith gets an Oscar for his role.

7. Knits – I asked my boyfriend if he noticed me wearing anything more than usual when I was trying to put together my list of February favourites. He said, “You’ve been wearing a lot of knits lately.” He is not wrong. February, or I guess winter this year in general, has been much colder than I remember. I’ve been layering as much as I can, but I think something I’ve kept gravitating towards is my collection of knit sweaters. They really are just really great pieces for winter. They absolutely do keep you warm (they’re not just for aesthetics lol). I purchased this beautiful blue knit sweater from work last month, and wore it on Valentine’s Day. I am so in love with it. It’s such a pretty cable knit sweater. It’s called the “Dream Cable Crewneck Sweater” and I got it in the colour “Blue Parrot”. It comes in 6 different colours! If you’d like to take a look, I’ll link it here: Dream Cable Crewneck Sweater

8. Free People “Brooks Chelsea Boots” – With the way winter has been, I needed to find some better boots. Yes, it’s freezing cold. But it’s also been snowing a crazy amount. I had a literal snow day this year (I had to stay home from work)! I have not seen this much snow since I was a little-er girl! There were snowbanks taller than me! I mean, it’s probably not saying much since I’m tiny, but they were HUGE snowbanks. I knew I needed some different boots. If not proper winter boots, something with tread. That’s when I remembered that Free People gifted me the “Brooks Chelsea Boots” in December. I sprayed them with some of that leather protectant stuff and I’ve been wearing them almost every day since. They’re not the warmest, but they get me from point A to point B without falling on my face.

There you have it! Another monthly favourites post of 2022! I hope you enjoyed this batch of faves and if you did, let me know if you try to crochet some flowers or watch King Richard, etc. I would love to discuss them :))

I hope you’re all having a great week!

Until next time,

– Tiny ❤

January Favourites 2022

There’s just something exciting and fun about sharing my favourite things with you. I think these posts have to be my *favourite*. I’m really glad I thought to start this up again for 2022. How about you? Do you like them as much as I do? I like them because they’re fun to look back on, and they’re great for referencing. Maybe in a couple of months from now I’ll look back and ask myself, “When did I get hooked on IKEA cookies? When did this obsession start?” And then I’ll go back to this post and know it was January!

I’ve got a little bit of everything to share with you today. There’s food, a bit of an apartment update, a show, books, and more! So let’s get into it, shall we?

My room is still a work in progress, but look at my cozy bed!

1. My Bed – One of the fortunate things about having your old roommate move in with her boyfriend is that she no longer needs her bed, because they can share his. I bought her old bed off of her. When my mom and littlest sister came to visit, my mom cleaned the mattress for me and we bought fresh linens, pillows, etc.! Let me remind y’all that I had been sleeping on a twin bed that I’ve had since college, and I graduated from college approximately 6 years ago. I’m scared to do the math in case it’s been longer. Ugh, I’m all of a sudden feeling old. Anyways, I’ve been cramped in a twin bed for as long as I can remember. My roommate had a double bed so this is a complete upgrade for me. Sleeping in a full/double is a whole different lifestyle! I get excited to go to bed! Being 4’11”, I now have SO MUCH SPACE. And I bought some really good pillows from IKEA, too. It’s so cozy and I feel like a queen.

2. Insecure on Crave – My best friends Julie and Jericho had been talking about this show called “Insecure” for a couple of months now, and I had never really gotten around to it. I wasn’t committed to anything (aside from Euphoria and And Just Like That) this month, so I thought this was the perfect time to start it. I finished ALL 5 SEASONS in like, 2-3 weeks. The episodes aren’t very long but I honestly couldn’t be stopped. I loved this show so much. It was one of those shows where you were like, “Okay, just one more!” And by the time you were okay with taking a break, it was 2AM. These kinds of shows are always the best. I have to admit that I wasn’t impressed with the series finale because I feel like there were a lot of unanswered questions, but I guess that’s okay. Julie, Jericho and I are hoping there might be a movie in the making. If you haven’t heard of Insecure, I highly recommend it. Jericho kind of said it perfectly: “It’s exactly what I needed to watch as I’m going into my 30s.”

Here’s the bag of the moment and me posing with her for my partnership with *Free People*.

3. We The Free Soho Convertible Sling from Free People – Can backpacks be cool again? I always think of myself in high school when I think about wearing a backpack. I got this green leather one sent to me from Free People and it doesn’t look like your stereotypical backpack at all (which I kind of love/appreciate). I think if I’m ever going to wear a backpack, it has to look like a purse. The functionality of a backpack is probably incomparable. You can carry so much more and it’s all on your back. You also have your arms free to do as they please. I feel like this isn’t news because it isn’t. I just rediscovered backpacks and I’m loving it lol. I want another one that’s a bit bigger so I can fit my lunch and take it to work. Is this a sign that I’m getting older? Am I sliding into my “uncool” stage of life? It just seems more practical to be carrying one nice big leather backpack instead of a purse and a tote bag to work every day. A leather bag also lasts longer and looks better with age! Am I trying to justify another bag purchase? You betcha.

4. These Violent Delights Duet by Chloe Gong – My last blog post is a book review on these two novels so I won’t say much more about them. This duet is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet in Shanghai in the 1920s. It’s super interesting and original (which is surprising because it’s a retelling). Think Romeo and Juliette with a side of monsters? They’re the first two books Chloe Gong’s ever published, and they’re great! I recommend them. They’re definitely my favourite books that I read this month. If you like a little bit of mystery, romance, historical fiction, and fantasy, these are perfect for you.

5. Crochet (balaclava, miniskirt & scarf) – Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I crocheted quite a lot this past month. I’ve got my groove back! They were smaller projects because I find them a lot more rewarding. I like that instant gratification. If I crochet a sweater, it might take the entire month and I don’t know if I’m ready for that. This month I crocheted a balaclava, a miniskirt, and a skinny scarf. These are all pieces that I have had on my list of things that I want to crochet for a really long time. I’m so happy I finished them! The balaclava is probably the piece I’m most impressed by. I honestly can’t believe I made it. It could be because the yarn is so pretty. It was a Christmas gift and I now see how much of a difference the quality of your yarn can make. The miniskirt is something I’m dying to actually wear in public, but it’s been like -30 degrees outside so I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon. Miniskirts are going to be huge this year. *Micro* miniskirts are reemerging as well, and I don’t know how I feel about that. The skinny scarf that I made is something inspired by all these photos I saw on Instagram. Mine looks more handmade but I think I love it more because of that. It’s one of a kind! I love that I’m crocheting a lot again and I can’t wait to see what I make in February.

These photos do not do these cookies justice!

6. Cookies from IKEA – I never really gave IKEA’s food/snacks/whatever a thought because I was ignorant. They’re so cheap! How can they be any good? Boy, was I ever wrong. I got two sleeves of cookies from IKEA out of curiosity. I ended up trying to make them last for as long as I could, and now they’re gone and I’ve been dreaming of them since. I want more!!! I don’t drive so I don’t go often. Ever since the pandemic started, unnecessary bus or subway trips seem silly. Like, I only take the bus or subway to get to work or visit my boyfriend. Because of this I made a pact with my boyfriend that whenever one of us goes to IKEA (we both just recently got our own places), we have to pick up some cookies. They’re SO YUMMY. I got these Ginger Thins With Almonds & Biscuits With Almonds. I’m going to sound like an old lady but they taste BOMB with a cup of tea. I might be a grandmother at heart but these cookies are *chef’s kiss*, I kid you not. If you’re my friend and you’re reading this, please pick me up some IKEA cookies when you go? I’m obsessed!!! I think I have an obsessive personality and I have fully latched on to IKEA cookies. We’ll see how long this lasts until I’m sick of them lol.

They not look cute, but they all tasted pretty good!

7. Cooking (?!) – At the beginning of the year, or the beginning of this past month, I made a list of resolutions. Cooking was on that list and I am proud to say that I have stayed true to my word! I know that there are 11 months left to the year, so who knows how long I’ll be able to keep this up, but I’ve been COOKING! I’ve also been kind of baking? Who am I? If you know me, I hated cooking and baking. It seemed like a waste of time to me. I really felt like I could be doing so many other things than taking the time to make a nice meal for myself. It turns out that it’s nice to make a nice meal for yourself lol. I really like it and I find it rewarding knowing that I made it all by myself. I haven’t done anything extravagant but I’m making baby steps, and that’s a lot compared to where I was at last year. I made my first roast in my slow cooker, spaghetti and meatballs, chocolate cake in my rice cooker (yes, my rice cooker), and pancakes from scratch (I ran out of boxed pancake mix and had no other choice)! Like I said, nothing jaw-dropping. I’m ready to start branching out in February. I also catch myself looking at recipes for fun now??? Hello??? Again, maybe I’m getting old. She’s turning 29 this year and all these changes are happening! It’s only January and I’m not sure if I’m going to even recognize myself by December. Am I having an early mid-life crisis? Is this what this is?

Okay, so there you have it! That was everything I loved and enjoyed during the month of January. I really can’t complain much about 2022 so far. How about you? What did you love last month? Share with me some of your favourite things in the comment section!

I hope you’re all safe and doing well!

Until next time,

– Tiny ❤

Coin Laundry

Good morning!! I’m back with another outfit post! Hurrah! Here’s a funny story: We had a HECK OF A LOT of laundry to do during this past week (and you really don’t want me to get further into it.. *bed bugs from the apartment upstairs* HA), so I decided to get my roommate to take some pictures while we were waiting for everything to finish at the laundromat. Where were these photos taken? Yeah, they’re from directly behind the laundromat. Very classy lol.

Guyyyyss. This is what my Summer has come to. Pictures at a laundromat because I work so much and my days off are here and there. Summer is almost over! We have A MONTH left, and I feel so sad that I haven’t really had any peak moments/highlights to Summer 2017. How about you guys? Have you also found that Summer this year hasn’t been the greatest, fun-wise and weather-wise? If you’re having the best Summer of your life, that’s awesome! Have some fun for me ha-ha! But seriously, I hope this next month is a whole lot better!

I do have Wayhome Music and Art Festival to look forward to! This weekend I’ll be going to Wayhome with Topshop Topman! I am so excited because I’ve never been before, and I’m basically going FOR FREE. This will definitely be a highlight. We’ll be camping the entire weekend and there’ll be so much going on. I’ll be working for a bit of it but I get to do whatever I want for the rest of it! One of my goals while I’m there, besides having the best experience, is to vlog EVERYTHING. Well not everything, everything. I just want to share a good experience with you guys! Does that sound like a good idea? If anything, there will definitely be pictures to share and of course, a blog post.

Dress – Topshop | Bag – Kensington Market | Sandals – Birkenstock

I hope you’re all having a fabulous week so far! If you haven’t seen my first YouTube video/vlog, check it out in my previous post!

Until next time,

A ❤

I’m not dead!

Hey, it’s me. Yeah, I’m not dead! I didn’t fall off the face of the earth or anything like that. Life happened, but I feel much better and I’m ready to go back to doing things that make me happy. Like writing this blog!! :))

To those of you who are wondering why I haven’t written a blog post since March, it’s mainly because I went through a tough time and had to figure out who I am and what I love about myself again. Do you guys ever fall into ruts and feel like you just have zero motivation to do anything? Or just feel like nothing is worth it? It happens, and that’s life. If bad things never happened, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate all the good things. That’s all I’m going to say but I am more than glad to be back. I hope you guys are glad too!

Today’s post is a good ol’ outfit post. Weird to see my face again, huh? Ha-ha.

There really isn’t much to say about this outfit. I’m wearing all Topshop (obviously). Guys, I’ve honestly tried my best to branch out… but there isn’t a brand that fits me the same! By fit, I mean literally. Topshop also fits my style more but their Petite section gives me LIFE. I want to give a little shout-out to my shoes too though. These cute western-esque slide-on loafer thingies are so cute and have been meshing well with the rest of my wardrobe. Again, they fit me like a glove! Yay!!

Shoes – Nine West | Everything Else – TOPSHOP

Until next time (and there really will be a next time),

A ❤

OOTD: Layering Game

Hey everyone! I’m very, very, very happy that I finally have some of my own photos to share this time!! I have an outfit of the day, can you believe it?! I can’t even remember the last time I was able to get some decent outfit pictures. Actually.. it was probably the last time my friend Keni (Instagram: @kenifromtheblock) took pictures of me ha-ha. This outfit was based on layering, and mixing casual pieces with a piece that would be considered more formal. This printed drape-y vest was something I got on sale at Topshop last year and I always considered it as kind of a more dressier piece. To layer and make this vest look more casual, I added jeans, a distressed t-shirt, sneakers, and a leather jacket! I like how it turned out, and I’m glad I opted for green as a pop of colour. Normally, I would have been safe and gone with a neutral-coloured t-shirt BUT NOT THIS TIME ;D I know it’s not anything crazy. This is only a bit of an example of how I have been evolving in terms of style and taste. I can’t wait to show you guys more!

All Clothes – Topshop | Converse Sneakers – Softmoc | Earrings – American Eagle (Old)

I hope you guys enjoyed this post. You guys have no idea how much I like to share my outfits and I’m gonna try my best to do it more. I’m currently thinking about doing an “Outfits of The Week” post. What do you guys think of that idea? Let me know in the comment section below!!

Until next time!

Tiny ❤

DIY Frayed-Hem Jeans

I’m here with something new and exciting! Like I’ve said in my previous post, I’ve been really motivated and determined lately. That means that I’m also motivated and determined to blog more and come up with some different content! In today’s post, I’m going to share with you a little do-it-yourself project that I did the other day. I DIY’d my own pair of frayed-hem jeans!

I got this sick pair of gray straight-leg jeans from work for $10. That’s right TEN DOLLARS. When I bought them they were waaay too long for me, but they fit perfectly around my waist! For $10, I racked my brain for an idea on how I could make them work. I mean, I could have got them hemmed for another $10 but who wants to do that?! Lol, not me!! I decided to hem them myself, and even better, I decided I wanted a FRAYED hem. We sell them at Topshop for almost $100. I love them and wanted them until I realized I could probably make them myself!! So I did and now here we are. Not only am I going to show you how they turned out, but I’m going to show you how I made them in case you guys want to try doing this yourselves! Here we go!

Things you’ll need:

Jeans – you could use an old pair, or even thrift a pair!
Scissors (preferably fabric scissors, but I lost mine..)
Tweezers
Pencil or Chalk
Measuring Tape

Step One:

Lay out your jeans and measure them to your desired length. Then draw a line for yourself to follow while you cut! Keep in mind that you’re going to need an inch or so for the frayed part. Side note: It looks like I cut off three inches from the bottom of my jeans.. I ended up cutting an extra inch. #shortgirlproblems Also, you don’t NEED to measure it out, draw a line, etc. If you’re comfortable eye-balling it, by all means go for it!! It’ll probably look more natural if you do it that way. I’m just a neat freak.

Step Two:

If you’ve measured where you want to cut them, cut away! If you’re eye-balling it, cut away! *TIP: Try the jeans on after! See where they sit! If you want them shorter, measure it out and cut some more!

Step Three:

Take your measuring tape again and measure from the bottom of your jeans to where you’d like your fraying/fringe to start. I measured one and a quarter inch. Draw another line across then instead of cutting across, cut up towards that line and make even little strips. BE CAREFUL NOT TO DESTROY A SIDE SEAM. That may cause you problems in the future!

Step Four:

Take a good and close look at one of those little strips. You’ll notice that there are threads going vertically and horizontally. This is how we’re going to make it fray. Loosen up the threads a bit with your fingers. Then take your tweezers and start to pull away all the horizontal/white threads until you each the end of the strip. We don’t want those guys! Do this to every strip all the way around the leg.

This is what it should look like once you’ve done a few strips:

And once you’ve finished all the strips on BOTH legs, this is what they’ll look like!! 🙂

I’m so happy with how these turned out. I hope you guys enjoyed this post! I had a lot of fun putting this together. If you’d like more DIYs, let me know in the comment section below!

Happy Tuesday!

Tiny ❤

Current Obsession: Eyeglasses

Hi everybody! Today’s post is all about my current obsession: eyeglasses. Not just any eyeglasses though. I am OBSESSED with these glasses that I got from Durumi http://www.instagram.com/thedurumi (a store downtown on Queen St). I just love these frames and every time I wear them to work I get so many compliments. They were only $25! They really add a bit of quirkiness to my outfits- and I love it.

The funny part is that I actually have proper prescription eyeglasses but I choose to wear these non-prescription ones instead. Makes sense, right? If anyone knows, can you get prescription lenses put into cheap frames like these? I may just go to Lenscrafters and find out myself. Or maybe there’s even similar frames there that I can turn into prescription glasses!?! I’ll keep you all updated. Don’t worry.

— But that’s it for today, my friends! Sorry that it’s a bit short and sweet this time. *GOOD* NEWS though! For the first week of January, beginning on New Years Eve, I will be using my vacation time! That’s an entire week of me, myself, and blogging ;)) I can’t wait, CAN YOU?

Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend so far! Get that Christmas shopping done! (I’m saying this more for me than for you LOL)

Until next time,

A ❤