Spoil me

Being active is such a huge part of my life that I knew I had to start with sports stuff for this list. I have more active hobbies than most and it brings me so much joy when we can share a hobby. As of right now I have pretty much everything my little active heart can dream of. This will change as I deem upgrades to be necessary, so check back in a year or so but if you are inclined to share a sports related hobby, please reach out with a dream location for a ski, bike (road), hiking, tennis, or golf trip.

Tennis

I got into tennis last year, with the motivation to have an excuse to wear the chicest outfits but I’m competitive so I have to be at least good. So far I’m not great but I do go out and try my best a few times a month during the months that allow it. My current racket is from Decathlon which is fine, but I’d love an upgrade to reduce my risk of getting tennis elbow. If you plan on seeing me longterm, then me having a healthy right hand/arm is just as much a gift to yourself.

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Just a thought: Booking two rooms and alternating between mine and Florence’s for your daily playtime at an all-inclusive resort with daily tennis lessons is guaranteed to be a trip none of us will ever forget.

Art

I love the arts and I usually have my eye on something that is on auction from Heffel, for sale at La Guilde on Sherbrooke, and various other art dealers in the city. There’s a blank space in front of my bed at home. It’s a large space that would be perfect for something that’s wide enough to fit the empty wall but something that is soothing and pretty. There’s also a few empty spots in a built-in I made for stone or glass pieces, ideally mirroring each other but not the same thing twice. The art world moves quickly so please ask if there’s something if gifting me something I will see everyday is of interest to you.

Current loves (might already be sold)

While I love dancing bears, I really love a diving bear. So playful yet strong, which is a way I would love for someone to describe me. I have the perfect spot for one in my living room at home. If I don’t have one by my 40th it’s likely to be the art piece I buy for myself to highlight the date (its in a few more years).

There is also a stunning quill piece at La Guilde that while looking for it to link it, I felt a pang of sadness thinking it was gone and not on my walls. Looking at the piece feels like looking up at the night sky full of breathtaking stars; something about the piece feels like home somehow.

Watches

Jaeger Lecoultre Reverso - mono-face, rose gold, leather bracelet

It’s sleek, timeless, elegant, and can easily be worn with jeans and an ironed t-shirt or on a date with you to a fine restaurant with figure hugging dress. It’s the perfect watch for me, it’s a soft whisper in an elegant tone. I’ll cry if you give me a box with the JL logo on it, please have Kleenex on hand and don’t do this to me minutes before we are about to head out to a restaurant. 

I’d never say no to a watch I’d simply be keeping for the next generation : the Patek Philippe Ellipse. The ultra classic silver and blue strap combo is the very definition of timelessness.

Finding one of these in great condition second-hand would be just as exciting to me. You may absolutely deviate from this list but please consider that for my next automatic (or first manual) watch I’d like something very classic with a leather bracelet.

Bags

Delvaux Cool Box size : MM in Tan

I love that Delvaux has focused on quality and craftsmanship to carry its brand from the 1800s to today. It is a goal of mine to not be flashy but rather to be elegant and terre à terre. The Cool box has such a fun shape and I think that the tan colour would easily make it a bag I reach for today and for decades.

Valextra Brera Crossbody Medium Bag in Smokey Blue

An other lesser known luxury brand that has let quality speak for quite some time (this time since the 30s). I’ve had my eye on this brand for a while but I had yet to find a model I would be willing to drop money on, but the Brera is perfect! Top handles, good size, and the smokey blue is the same colour of as the first designer bag I bought myself! It was a very old Longchamp (with top handles). One of the all leather Longchamps with the silver toggle but it had seen better days already and then I dragged that bag around everywhere for a few years and then it was used beyond repair. I’m far more careful with things today and to have something that resembles my first love but that is far superior in quality and a more unique design would be wonderful.

Bottega Veneta Intrecciato zip around

You can’t really have a bunch of gorgeous purses without having a wallet that holds its own. The weaving of the Intrecciato line has fascinated me since i first saw it. I love the practicality of this wallet while it retains a certain refined look that is not a marked with a large logo.

Prada Arque leather shoulder bag in tan

While I try to avoid looking like a billboard for brands that are not paying me to advertise for them, I do love this Prada bag. My most reached for bag in my current collection is my Prada bag and I feel that this one will easily become a favourite. By some miracle, it doesn’t have tophandles, but the yellow gold hardware and half moon shape have me in a chokehold.

While I avoid wearing perfume if you have not explicitly told me I can, I am at my most confident when my hair is freshly done and I’ve spritzed myself with the scent that matches my mood.

Parfums de Marly - Valaya

This floral and fruity fragrance is nothing like what I already have. It’s a breath of fresh air and is not at all childish in its fruity aromas. I get white flowers. white peach, bergamot, mandarine, musk, and vanilla.

Nishane

There’s a few that I love from this Istanbul-based perfume brand. I currently own Oolong Cha, Papilefiko, and Hundred Silent Ways and I am constantly reaching for them. Tuberoza is quite floral but does not lose sight of other notes that I like. This one is more summery while most of my collection and the perfumes listed here are more fall and wintery. There’s ylang ylang, orange and orange blossom, jasmine, vetiver, sandalwood, and amberwood. Mana has spicy, oriental, and leathery notes with saffron, black pepper, pachouli, oud, sandalwood, moss, and musk. It also has a beautiful bottle! Fredo is more leathery and woody with cardamom, oud, sandalwood, and suede. That last one would become my most boss perfume, and be perfect for the days when I’m feeling extra spicy.

Penhaligon’s - Bewitching Yasmin

I’ve been looking at the beautiful bottles of this brand for a while but I hadn’t quite found the scent I would want to smell all day until I found Bewitching Yasmin. It’s very feminine with jasmine and vanilla but with a bit of an edge thanks to the coffee.

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Perfume I’d LOVE to smell on you : Oud for Greatness by Initio. I will be absolutely feral if you show up wearing this perfume and you’ll get tons of compliments from others.

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Shopping for someone else and looking at my beautifully curated list? Molecule 1. I have some so don’t get this for me. I buy this perfume regularly to give as a gift as it suits absolutely everyone! My mom, cousin, Aliss Swan, my bestie… they all wear it and love it. The wearer cannot smell it but everyone else does and it smells completely different on everyone. You’re welcome.

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All are available at my favourite skincare and perfume store : Etiket

Feeling overwhelmed? Gift cards or donations are the way to go. I generally buy whatever my heart desires which means that everything that’s listed is above my threshold of what I could reasonably buy for myself on a random Tuesday because I felt like it.

I volunteer every week and have lunch during my shift. I also bring treats to other volunteers and use my car to pick up donations and make deliveries. Feel free to add any amount to a RDV. Please tell you me you added money for lunch, donuts, or gas because I don’t count the money of those that I trust.

Etiket I’m there once a month as a part of my skincare regiment and it’s where all those fancy perfumes I mentioned come from. Don’t feel obligated to get my a card that covers a 500$ perfume, any amount sent to my email address will be greatly appreciated.

SAQ GC. I’m into wine, any sized gift card will be greatly appreciated as well. I tend to go once a season and I’ll run up a bill of over 500. That said, if you are not a wine enthusiast don’t ever be shy to say “Hey CC, could you bring something from you cellar for tonight, my budget is X”. If you are a wine enthusiast, I trust your cellar is even larger than mine and has wonderful gems that I’ll be happy to enjoy with you.

ModEco and Coureurs des Jupons: almost everything in these stores is locally made and it is where go to shop for 80% of my everyday clothes

VSP: is a consignment store in Toronto that has secondhand designer clothing. Secondhand designer rids me of the guilt of the fashion houses’ manufacturing ethics and I think it encourages local jobs as well as reduces environmental impact. You may even find the wallet I want on their online store.

Drawn and Quarterly, l’Euguelionne, Argo Bookstore. Please please please, no amazon GCs, it’s not my vibe, I’ll donate them to shelters. If you want the simplicity of an Amazon GC you can donate directly anywhere in my honour. You’ll take the tax break, and I’ll be very happy about it. If you want to encourage my bookishness the aforementioned bookstores put a serious dent in my wallet every time I drop in so I would love a gift card from any of them.

I also very much love wool socks (Darn Tough from Vermont is my current favourite) and flowers are always well appreciated, especially tulips in the spring and amaryllis (the bulb) in the winter.

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full name at proton mail dot com for eGCs

I’ve been volunteering since I was a child. It started with teaching a little girl with intellectual and physical challenges how to skate. Her sister was with the other kids but this little girl was left sitting on the ice by herself. I was the only figure skater one with the patience necessary to teach her. I was 10, maybe 11. Since then I volunteered with various other sports organizations, with food security orgs, an animal shelter, and also with refugees. To say that giving is a huge part of who I am is an understatement. I’m relentlessly attentive to others and you may notice that in a restaurant or on the street with the way I scan my surroundings. When you are generous with people, I like you more, and the more I like you, the more fun you have with me.

I personally donate/volunteer with food security, housing, disaster relief, water security, safe boarder crossings, equality (gender, orientation, etc) but I happen to think that being an advocate for the environment or healthcare or medical research is just as valid because in the end people lives are improved and that’s all I care about. So please, you are encouraged to boast about your donations to whatever is important to you.

Water First - indigenous-led org that aims to provide sustainable source of safe water to communities left behind by the Canadian government.

Stella - Montreal based, SW org that aims to support SWers and educate the public

Sea-Eye 4 - a refugee rescue ship. There are many refugee rescue ship opperations, though unfortunately not enough. Feel free to chose one that is currently active and gives tax breaks to your tax jurisdiction.

Thanks for reading this far :)