As seen in and around the Red Light District in Amsterdam. Love the burger vending machines! Oh, and the boat full of dapper gentlemen is just some random eye-candy for you.
Boston: The Ether Dome
One of the most fascinating historic landmarks that we've visited since moving to Boston is the Ether Dome in the Bulfinch Building at Massachusetts General Hospital.
PHOTOHOGGER is now on BLOGLOVIN'!
One Year Ago...2011
Happy New Year Peeps!
2011 was a crazy year for us:
We moved from Toronto to Boston.
I said goodbye to my animation job (The Backyardigans, Justin Time) in Toronto to focus on professional photography full-time.
I shot two of my favourite families before we left: The Brights and The Hamiltons
I launched HOGGER & Co., consolidating three (Foodhogger, Fashionhogger, Photohogger) websites into one.
I shot at Boston Fashion Week within weeks of moving to Boston.
I reviewed some amazing restaurants like Nil Bleu in Montreal, Roy's in Hawaii and reviewed some interesting products like Olivado's Avacado Oil.
I shared some fun recipes, like Cardomom Cake, Spicy Tilapia and How to make Cake Pops.
We travelled to Hawaii, Quebec City, Montreal, Boston, Amsterdam and Greece.
I tweeted the Royal Wedding LIVE. With my Mom. Whilst we wore hats.
My photographs were selected for an exhibit at the Boston Convention Center and are ongoing until April 2012!
I met designers Zac Posen, Badgley Mischka, Roopal Patel and Bibhu Mohapatra while covering them for Neiman Marcus.
I got to know some cool Boston Bloggers at several fun events (Holiday Party, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Lit Boutique, Zoora)
We went home for Xmas.
Thank you for all the support through 2011; it was so nice to meet a few of you in person last year and I look forward to getting to know each of you better in 2012!
Let's do this!!!
Merry Christmas, 2011!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the holiday season! We were so happy to be able to go home to Toronto for the holidays. After moving to Boston in the summer, this was our first trip back, so it was really nice to catch up with family and friends and do not much of anything else. Except eat, of course. The following sums up our holiday fairly well. 
Boston Blogger Holiday Fiesta!
Alison and Katy Rose organized a kick a$$ holiday fiesta in Boston's Mass Ave Tavern on December 14 2011! It was lovely to meet a bunch of talented Boston Bloggers in a casual setting with complimentary appetizers and fun goodie bags provided by the the Swapaholics, EventBrite and Pretzel Crisps.
Thanks guys for putting on a fantastic and fun-filled holiday soiree! Can't wait for the next one!
Our lovely organizers, Katy Rose from Modly Chic + Alison from Long Distance Loving
Brittany from Brilliance Of B
Najeema from A Stylized Hysteria
Maria from Thread the Needle and Hannah from Chill Air & Perfume
Laura from A Little Bit of Lacquer
Danielle from Antiquated Treasures + Anna from Dear Friend Blog
Danielle from Antiquated Treasures. 
Clair from Finding Clarity and Emily from So Anthro
Sarah from Hemingway Street
A Stylized Hysteria's finger bling
Ladies who happened to at the Tavern and are now inspired to start blogging, soon - Melissa from Salon Red & Spa, Mariama, visual merchandising supervisor at Bloomingdales, Chestnut Hill & their friend.
Najeema & Kacy from Height Of Style
Najeema's hand accessories, again. :)
As captured by Kacy, thanks Kacy!
Holly from Covetous Creatures
For more awesome recaps of the event, be sure to check out: Modly Chic, Chill Air & Perfume, Ms. City Fit's Blog and A Stylized Hysteria's Flickr Page!
Mindy Kaling Book Signing
If you've checked out my "Links" page, you'll notice that I list them under "Blogs I've Read that I Like"; an ode to Mindy Kaling's "Things I've Bought That I Love", which has since been resurrected into "The Concerns of Mindy Kaling". Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you're aware that Mindy, not only an accomplished writer, producer, director and the actress we best know as Kelly Kapoor in The Office, has also recently published a book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns)."
The book is hilarious, heartfelt and had me bursting out into laughter throughout.
When Mindy tweeted to the world that she'd be at Harvard Book Store for a reading and signing of her book on Dec 5, she caused the site to crash leaving many of us unable to purchase tickets to the event.
Taking place at the Brattle Theatre, some of us who were not lucky enough to get tickets, waited in the rush line and as we waited, Mindy strolled by with a smile. Most of us were rendered speechless by her presence and soon the moment was gone. Then we found out we couldn't get in as the theatre was at capacity with those who had tickets. Disappointed, most of the people in our line decided to leave.
Except for the three of us.
I met Sailaja and Torey. Sailaja had been waiting since 3:20pm and was fuh-reezing. The three of us decided to wait it out in the hopes that they'd let us in for the book signing part, at least.
An hour or so later, they did.
We got to meet her, tell her about our wait in line, tell her about our blogs and got this photo.
I also love that Mindy's holding my card in the photo I took of her, which gives me hope that she may see this post, someday.
Be sure to hop on over to Brown Girl Magazine for a recap from Sailaja's POV.
Here are the photos from the event.
Amsterdam: Alan & Ginnie
Alan and Ginnie are our good friends from Toronto and we were so happy to see them again in Amsterdam in September.
I've introduced you to Alan before, in Stirling, Scotland, where we were hosted by Alan's parents at a glorious garden party.
In Amsterdam we, once again, enjoyed a few pints and saw some sights. Ginnie and I also visited some museums together and had many cups of tea.
Happy Thanksgiving!
It's strange for us to be celebrating Thanksgiving in November, as Canadian Thanksgiving falls in October (2nd Monday in Oct).
Nevertheless, any excuse to eat, drink and be merry is a good one.
It's been an unbelievable few months since our move to Boston from Toronto in August. Boston is a lovely city and we've felt so welcome in many ways. I've also had some very cool opportunities to shoot fun events in the city, and I'm thankful for each moment.
I'm also so very thankful for our family who've helped set up our new home, for the friends who've visited from Toronto and made the distance seem much closer. And for the new people we've met so far who've made us feel at home.
What are you thankful for this season?
(Image processed with Poladroid)
Amsterdam: Flower Market
Remember when we went to
in September? I've been so back-logged in getting these photos up!
Here's a few from the gorgeous Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam's famous flower market. The flower stalls are actually on barges, floating in the Singel canal. Traditionally the flowers were brought in via barges into the canal, hence the floating flower market (held first back in 1862).
Some of these flowers I'd never even seen before. The tulips in the cans are actually WOODEN tulips, aren't they gorgeous? As we couldn't bring back real tulip bulbs, I brought back mini wooden ones.
What is your favourite flower?
Boston: Worn
Feeling like a bicycle Saturday. As seen in Beacon Hill, Boston, Fall 2011.
Boston Public Library
I stepped into Boston Public Library for the first time, at the end of October, since moving to Boston a couple of months ago, and was taken into a different world. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love libraries. Everything about them. But this one is unlike any library I've ever been to before. It has made a perfect backdrop for movies such as Knight & Day and The Pink Panther 2, but it certainly is the perfect backdrop for reading.
I instantly wanted to study, to read, to spend the whole day there.
So I did.
Well, the afternoon, anyway.
Here, some stills.
Meg's Dance
My niece performed in the IANH dance last weekend. She did a fantastic job as did the other students in her dance troupe. So proud of you Meg! xo
Halloween: FRIDA KAHLO
A few years ago I was Frida Kahlo for Hallowe'en. It was the easiest home-made costume for me to pull off, I loved doing it. So much so, I did it again the following year for a work Hallowe'en party. Here's what you need:
- Dark hair or wig with hair that is already pulled up and away from the face.
- Flowers - I like red Carnations
- Hairpins - bobby pins
- Dangly earrings
- Spanish looking attire - ie. a full length skirt in a bright colour or ruffled, tiered skirt
- frilly top or bright spanish-looking dress/shirt
- a shawl
- red lipstick + blush
- mascara
Simply part your hair down the middle, into two sections, and french-braid your hair starting from the bottom of your scalp (from you neck) up to the top of your head so that you can pile your hair up at the top of your head. Tie the braids and pin the end of the braids at the top of your head. Hide the pins by pinning flowers (carnations) at the top of your head. Apply the mascara in a thin layer between your brows making it look like a uni-brow. You can also fill the rest of your brows with the mascara to add to the thickness. Put on some blush, lipstick, wear your earrings and outfit, wrap yourself in the shawl and you're done!
What are you doing for Hallowe'en? Are you dressing up? If so, what as?
Fall Arrangements
As we were walking along Newbury street the other evening, we came across a gorgeous window sill, covered in pretty fall decor.
It inspired me to set up our dining table with this pumpkin arrangement in a glass bowl from Ikea.
How have you decorated your home for Fall?
