FASHION Magazine

Annie Evans here, director of the Society’s Miami chapter and special correspondent for today’s Culture Club post. After a jam packed spring calendar of cultural encounters, I was ready for some R & R and the hills of County Wicklow in Ireland seemed like the perfect place to indulge.  Below are my top 6 must-sees on the trip:

Sleep: Wicklow Way Lodge (wicklowwaylodge.com) Nestled in the hills of County Wicklow, this charming B & B, built on a family farm, didn’t disappoint. Book a room with a balcony and prepare for stunning views of the garden of Ireland and a deeeelish traditional Irish breakfast (minus the black pudding–we weren’t fans).

We Culturites aren’t really sure where the first half of the summer went, but with the August long weekend quickly approaching we want to make sure we treasure every minute left of this hot and gorgeous weather, so we’ve put together some tips that will help you make the most of a mini-vacay:

Look for getaways close to home There are so many gems just a few hours from Toronto that we often overlook but make for a perfect short getaway. In Ontario, check out Langdon Hall (langdonhall.ca), Muskoka’s Touchstone (touchstoneonlakemuskoka.com) and The Waring House (waringhouse.com) in foodie mecca Prince Edward County.

A recent trip to Brooklyn Flea at One Hanson last weekend was beyond successful. Housed inside the former Williamsburg Savings Bank, a Brooklyn landmark, it is full of all kinds of delights for the senses.

The market was a sea of mustaches, plaid shirts (despite the 100 degree heat) and Ray-Ban glasses for the men and vintage flower dresses and leather Moroccan sandals on ladies. The entire experience was a sensory overload, making it extremely hard to narrow it all down to a top six list, but after hours of sifting through the treasures, here’s the list of our top six vendors at the Brooklyn Flea:

We recently spent a week with Silversea Cruises hopping along the coast of Italy, Croatia and Greece. Here are some of our favourite stops:

Venice, Italy: With only 24 hours in this heavenly city–our first port of call–we opted for a contemporary art overdose, taking a crash course at Palazzo Grassi (palazzograssi.it), which houses one of the best contemporary art collections in Italy, and the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova (fondazionevedova.org), which is currently showing an exhibition of some of the rare textile works by the late Louise Bourgeois.

Trieste, Italy: The home of Illy Coffee is, like the rest  of the country, a historic hot-bed. Culturites recommend grabbing a coffee (Illy, obvs) in the largest seaside piazza in all of Italy, the Piazza dell’Unita d’Italia, which is surrounded by Viennese architecture left over from the time of the city’s Austro-Hungarian rule. Post java fix, take in the Museo Civico Revoltella (museorevoltella.it) to immerse yourself in works by some of Italy’s most significant artists from the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

As Toronto’s current heatwave indicates, summer is now in full effect. We were jazzed (pun intended) to share a summer soundtrack with you, so we sought out the recommendations of our music stylist and fellow Culturite, Dan Buckman founder of Bellosound (bellosound.com). We love his company motto, “love what you hear.” Music is so much a part of our everyday lives, so why not surround yourself with sounds that enlighten, enrich and enhance? Here Dan’s six picks for the best summertime beats. You can download the playlist from the iTunes store for $7.

“L’amour à trois” by Stereo Total

We’ve been working on our fitness as of late, taking to the road on our Batavus bikes. We’ve put together a little Saturday itinerary below for a great city ride. Enjoy:

10:00 a.m. For the first stop of the morning, caffeinate at Scratch (1358 Bathurst St., 416-536-2220) with the best espresso north of Bloor.

10:30 a.m. Bike through Wychwood Park and check out the beautiful century homes that have over-grown gardens and ivy reaching up massive trellises. It feels like biking through the country right in the middle of the city.

A friend and member of The Society NYC, Kelly Barrett is our go-to gal for any problems. We realized this on a recent night out with her in Miami. We danced to the sweet sounds of Bob Sinclair at Casa Tua until the wee hours of the morning and the aftermath was battered feet, torn to shreds by our adorable summer footwear. Luckily, our friend is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to tips and tricks for taking care of these mishaps (and avoiding them in the first place). Here are Kelly’s top six cheap-and-cheerful fixes for those little summer emergencies:

Band-Aid’s Friction Block ($10, well.ca) is a summer essential for your feet. It’s an invisible soft solid that’s applied like a tiny deodorant stick to vulnerable areas, like your heels or between your toes. Your shoes literally glide over those tough spots, preventing blisters.  You will never worry about breaking in a new pair of shoes again.

The Culturites are currently aboard the Silver Spirit, Silversea Cruises’ newest ship. First port of call was Venice, followed by Croatia and Greece. So far we can’t complain given we have a butler looking after our every whim, 24 hour room service, Frette linens, an in-room entertainment system featuring hundreds of complimentary movies on demand, champagne around the clock and 5-star cuisine. (You can follow our adventure at thesocietyglobal.tumblr.com.)

One thing we can’t leave home without when travelling are our Canon PowerShot cameras, but what we’ve learned from past experience is that snapshots are one thing, good documentary photos from your trip are another.

So before we set sail, we asked our dear friend and one of our city’s most talented young photographers (who just shot one Culturite’s wedding in Bahamas), Tory Zimmerman (toryzimmerman.com), to give us six tips to help us capture the best for our (and your) travel photography collection:

Don’t take photos—make photos! Play around with your camera’s manual settings and get to know its pre-programmed ones.  Most digital cameras (even point and shoots) have exposure settings you can play with, have manual focus allocation points and settings that you can employ. Try the sepia toning, try underexposing, try longer exposures. Don’t let the camera be the brain–you can make your own decisions!

Collecting art can seem daunting, unapproachable and, in many cases, simply out of our reach. Yet, when you ask seasoned collectors how they started, many of them say that they bought their first piece in their 20s or 30s. So how to begin when you are young, working hard and have only a small amount of disposable income?

We asked a dear friend and avid art collector this question over a cup of coffee in Toronto. He provided us with the handy list below (and trust us when we say this is coming from a real expert):

We Culturites are just coming off the high of a successful event in L.A. where we hosted an exhibit of Yvan Rodic’s (a.k.a The Facehunter) street style photographs in a private penthouse at the W Residences in West Hollywood with a very full house of interesting and over the top chic Angelenos.  Here are some of our favourite spots in the city:

Sleep: Sunset Tower Hotel (8358 Sunset Blvd., 323-654-7100, sunsettowerhotel.com)  Stay here for the old world charm, un-pretentious service, the chicken apple breakfast sausage and the intimate pool area and patio (jazz music included). The rooms are comfortable and well appointed, and who knows, you may even spot Jennifer Aniston (word has it that this is her home away from home). The Sunset Tower has always been a favorite hang-out for Hollywood royalty.

Eat: Pace (2100 Laurel Canyon Blvd., 323-654-8583, peaceinthecanyon.com) Named for the Italian word for peace, Pace is a unassuming little joint nestled in Laurel Canyon. Though low-key in atmosphere, it manages to pack a large punch when it comes to its customers and menu. It’s a favorite for the young celebrity set, but there’s not one paparazzo in sight–imagine that!

We can’t help smiling lately with the advent of so many wonderful new restaurants springing up (or old favourites refreshing their menus). When putting together a recent reco list for visiting friends, we felt spoiled for choice. Here are some of our favourites right now:

With years under his belt as a successful bar owner–does a little place called Amber ring a bell?–Toufik Sarwa recently exploded onto our radar with the launch of Cinq o1 (501 College St., 416-964-1555). We love that he is always around to greet his guests with a warm handshake or a kiss kiss.

David Minicucci and Sam Kalogiros are no strangers to the Toronto restaurant world. The owners of two of our fave local hangouts, L’Unita (134 Avenue Rd., 416-964-8686) and Malena (102 Avenue Rd., 416-964-0606) know how to create  a neighborhood bistro–a killer combination of amazing fresh food, great energy and inviting, cozy nooks.

The work week is over, weekend chores are done, and if you’re one to engage in festive merrymaking on Saturday evenings, Sunday afternoons are usually reserved for repose. However, with the promise of summer sunshine peaking out from just around the bend, Fellow Culturite and intern at The Society Global, Nicole Schaeffer, has recommended her leisurely activities to get you off the couch and out of the house!

An occasional serving of even the trashiest, most self-indulgent, excessive of tabloids can be a healthy break from navigating through office memos and monstrous reply-all threads. Spending an afternoon cloistered in a book shop is a fine way to spend a rainy Sunday. Honestly, is there anything better than cracking the spine of an unopened book? If you’re looking for something meatier than US Weekly, Culturites are currently reading Vicky Ward’s chronicle of the end of Lehman Brothers, The Devil’s Casino.

One part childhood nostalgia mixed with one part sangria seems to equate to an afternoon of juvenile delights. Delving into some basement boxes should yield a variety of options to engage in a round of board games with buds. Remember Gumdrop Mountain from Candy Land? Or Miss Scarlett from Clue? In fact, we spent last Saturday night (and early Sunday morning) playing Trivial Pursuit at Julie’s Snack Bar (202 Dovercourt Rd., 416-532-7397, juliescuban.com) over a feast of Cuban food and mojitos!