#ShopRAOPDear Diary

I’m a big dreamer, and one of my most constant life dreams has been to create a custom scent of some sort. As someone with no experience in the olfactory world outside of being an admirer, it seemed a bit far fetched to make a full career pivot, but I always hope the right scent collaboration would come along, and shout out to the universe, it did!

I’ve been a huge fan of Toronto-based LOHN candles for years now. A women owned and operated company, the ladies behind LOHN hand pour their coconut wax candles right around the corner from my old High Park apartment! Every product they create is swoon worthy, from the packaging design and scent notes to the custom risograph printing on their labels. I couldn’t have imagined a better pair to create a candle of my own with, and when they approached me it was seriously a dream come true!

We were originally in talks about this project last Spring, but I was so overwhelmed with newborn life that we decided it was best to push it, and so here we are, launching our limited run of perfect pink candles just in time for Mother’s Day 2020!

Tasked with creating a candle that captured the warmth and love of motherhood, I came up with “Penny“, named for my mom’s maiden name Pennykid. With top notes of black tea and bergamot, middle notes of honey and chamomile, and bottom notes of garden rose, this candle is sweet, delicate, floral and yet so complex. When I sniff it, I can almost feel sunshine on my face and taste a hot cup of Earl Grey tea on my tongue. Growing up, my mom, sister and I would all gather around my great grandmother’s table and share stories, while “Nanny Pennykid” popped spoonfuls of honey into our mouths and topped up our china teacups with Twinings Earl Grey. This candle is dedicated to those sweet afternoons.

The women behind LOHN translated my somewhat vague scent memory so perfectly, and my good friend / fellow mama Paige of Studio Bicyclette took over interpreting my design vision. The final result is a blush pink candle that delights all of the senses, complete with custom printed glass votive that can be used for fresh blooms, makeup brushes or odds and ends long after your Penny candle has burned through.

We’ve only poured 100 of these incredibly special candles, and they’re already selling quickly, so get your order in here! $2 of every candle sold will go to help families at Nellie’s Shelter, and LOHN is even offering contact-free drop offs within Toronto to ensure you get your Mother’s Day gifts on time!

Special thanks to Paige for the photos, and Bille Flower Co. for supplying the photoshoot blooms!

Dear Diary

A few weeks ago I opened up about a project that’s super close to my heart with BluBoho, and today I’m sharing the big reveal, plus a little bit more of the full story.

As previously mentioned, I brought some of my “forgotten gems” to the women at BluBoho to be reimagined, giving new life to old pieces with negative connotations. Jewelry is such a precious marker of special memories, and often those memories can turn from positive to painful as life moves forward and changes course. I’m not the kind of person to forget those I have connected with, even if things turn cold and dark, and I feel the same way about jewelry – it’s important to salvage what’s good from that time and turn it into something positive and sparkly to carry forward.

The earrings were a simple fix – a momento from a past relationship, the diamonds had turned black and were crafted with a poor setting which made them impossible to clean properly. We swapped out the setting for a simple rose gold backing that’s easy to clean, and they’re back to being sparklier than they ever were in their original white gold casing. I proudly wear them everyday, and can’t wait to start layering on more piercings and glimmering ear additions from the shop.

The ring was a different story. Like I said in my first post, I wanted to redesign my grandmother’s engagement ring into something more wearable, something clean from the pain of losing her, something that truly mirrored the amazing, golden woman she was.

I worked closely with the team at BluBoho and together we decided to replace the chunky gold solitaire-style setting of the original ring with a more flat rose gold design, crowned with a halo of tiny pink sapphires. A big bit of her, and a little bit of me, I dreamed it up as a new family heirloom that holds no connection to a man or marriage, instead signifying the strength and unity of the women in our family.

In all honesty, as I get older and those around me settle down with massive sparklers on their ring finger, I can’t help but feel a little bit left out… but all along I had my answer. Whether an engagement is in my future or not, near or far, I can absolutely wear a big beautiful diamond ring that stands for something altogether different and in some ways, more special. I hope one day I can pass the story of my sassy, stylish grandmother and her love of all things gold and sparkly down to my daughter, along with this ring, and the idea that you don’t need a life partner to sport a really big, really pretty ring.

The women at BluBoho have been a constant source of inspiration and support for me, and it was such a magical experience to go on this journey with them. I am so deeply thankful to the entire team for all the love they put into my new pieces. If you need custom work done, especially for a special occasion, I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Some of our current favourites from the shop:

Rings //

10k Rose Gold Vista Ring
The Gemini Ring II
10k Yellow Gold Opal Aura Ring
10k Yellow Gold Diamond Aura Ring

bracelets //

10/14k Yellow Gold Hold Me Tight Bracelet with Diamonds
14k Original Coco Rose Gold and Nylon Bracelet

Earrings //

10k Rose Gold Vista Earring (Single)
10k/14k Rose Gold Diamond Tripod Earring (Single)

Necklaces //

10k Yellow Gold Choker
14k Yellow Gold and White Diamond Flirty Necklace

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Dear DiaryDress Up

Warning- this month’s editor picks is seriously special! For the first time ever I get to choose my favourites from my very own STORE. That’s right, you’re about to get an exclusive close up look at some of the treasures we’ll be selling this Monday on the #ShopRAOP site!

I’ve been talking about curating a shop for most of my life, and watching this dream come true has been seriously surreal. I honestly feel like to luckiest girl in the world to have had this incredible opportunity, and now that all of the product is in I’m *so* excited to share it with all of you! Of course everything in the shop is deeply and completely adored, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek at the items that are currently catching my attention.

Without further ado, my (Shop) RAOP picks!!!

*note: you won’t be able to access links until the shop opens tomorrow morning!*

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Trust Fund Beauty x RAOP Nail Polishes //

The perfect nail polish is hard to find, especially when it comes to milky pastels with great coverage. We worked with Trust Fund Beauty, a vegan cruelty-free brand based on Montreal, to craft two custom shades, and they really made all of our nail polish dreams come true. “Peach Please” is a magical sparkling peach champagne inspired colour, and “RAOP Pink” is our ideal shade of pastel bubblegum pink. Are you ready to paint your paws pastel?

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Ballet Slipper Necktie //

Crafted from the softest Japanese vegan suede and finished with 24k gold hardware, these elegant neckties were made by our friends at CONVEY and really complete every FW/16 outfit. We especially love layering them with delicate gold necklaces, and rumour has it a baby pink colour is coming soon as well…

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Rosy In Reykjavik Sweater //

I fell hard and fast for Iceland when I visited a few years ago, and ever since I’ve had a weak spot for Icelandic knits and patterns. This vintage one of a kind sweater caught my eye immediately because of it’s Nordic style, and I’m seriously considering just keeping it for myself…

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Bergamot Rose Black Tea //

I had the pleasure of working for Sloane Fine Tea Merchants a couple years ago, and in that time I learned so much about the fine art of tea blending, tasting, and more. A unique combination of Earl Grey, rose and lavender, this black tea is bursting with floral flavour. Enjoy it with milk, honey, and your favourite sugar cookies!

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Daisy Chain Denim //

Is anyone else obsessed with dressed-up denim these days? My amazing friend Mari hand embellished four unique pairs of vintage denim, and each one turned out more special than the last. My favourite of the moment is this pink daisy pair, but I change my mind almost daily.

Want to see everything in person?! We’re hosting a surprise pop up at CONVEY on Queen Street from Friday November 4th to Sunday November 6th!

Dress Up

For a long time Jo and I fought our twin-like ways. We’d text before showing up to work to make sure we weren’t accidentally matching, and blush when we inevitably arrived in the same place in almost identical clothing anyway. We tried to keep our hair different shades at all times, and put a lot of energy into finding looks that would differentiate us.

But still, the questions remained the same: “omg, are you sisters?”, “Are you TWINS?” and these days we’ve decided we may as well just get crazy matchy matchy. That’s right, we’re purposely twinning all the time, and honestly, it’s pretty darn fun.

Hayley Elsaesser is one of our favourite local designers, and every year we flock to her fashion week show like a couple of moths to a big colourful flame. This year she invited us to visit her shop for some new items to sport at fashion week (dream come true!) and though we attempted to each pick a totally different outfit, we walked out looking like twins in identical two piece ensembles once again.

The perks? We almost always have the same item in multiple prints/colours, and we can pretend to be one another à la parent trap in like, 80% of situations…

P.S. Happy first day of summer!!!

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Both outfits via Hayley Elsaesser (including socks!). Alyssa’s shoes via BC footwear, backpack via Opelle Creative, watch via MintCoast, sunnies by Illesteva. Johanna’s shoes by Converse

Dress Up

Happy Pride weekend everyone!

I know I’m a little bit late to the game with this one but trust me, it’s been a tough week in RAOP land ok? That said, it’s also been a really BIG week in the world! Gay marriage is now legal all across America, and it’s been truly incredible to watch my social feeds fill up with endless rainbows and messages of support.

To celebrate this magical time, I’ve teamed up with Charziie to host a giveaway! You can win yourself a hand-painted, one of a kind rainbow glitter tee (cropped or full length), and all you have to do is tag two friends in my Instagram post, and follow both Char and I! Bonus points will be awarded if you follow me on Twitter and Facebook, and you have until tomorrow evening to enter. Sorry, Canadian and U.S. shipping addresses only please!

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Starfish created by Victoire, T-shirt by Charziie, Skirt by Party Skirts, backpack and sandals by Golden Ponies.

Photos by Paige of Bicyclette

*Note: Some or all of the items featured in this post were given to me as a gift from the maker, but I only write about products I genuinely adore, I promise!*