The Raven Calls...

Happy birthday, Edgar Allan Poe!


January 19th is the day that all closet Raven junkies and secret lovers of Victorian gothic literature come together and celebrate!

We here at Princess Ta-dam are great fans of this master of the macabre, so we decided to indulge our penchant towards his opulent and spine-chilling style by created some hair adornments based on his short stories and on the unique atmosphere of his works.

The masque of red death, so lavish and sumptuous, was perfect for the idea behind this red crystal hair clip.

The peacock feather has always had mystical associations. The soft swish in the falling twilight, the vibrant colours shining in the gloom... Perfect!

Heaven in a Bite!

A gorgeous pastry from Laduree in Paris, this is the St. Honore Rose-Framboise.... say goodbye to your resolutions!

Buried in Books: A Tour of Shakespeare and Company

Nestled within the winding, labyrinthine streets that hide in Notre-Dame's shadow is a beautiful reminder of a time gone by and a golden idyll. Even from the outside, its windows overflowing with books beckon you forward. Within, sheer bibliophilic joy awaits you.

In this surprisingly spacious store, around every corner mountains of books teeter precariously over your head. Good reads are hidden in a labyrinth of shelves. All those that have dreamed of wandering through an antique style bookstore can now rest easy: apart from its quirky and curious selection of new and vintage books, the store incorporates a gloriously varied collection of vintage items, like wooden ladders on rails to help customers reach books at the top of the shelves, yellowed newspaper clippings and a train station's clock!

Places like this are rare havens for creativity in a cold, rushed industrial world. Here, one is able to take a break from all of the havoc of modernity, and pull up a piano stool and coax a few notes from the piano upstairs or pluck a book from their shelves and take a seat in a comfortable armchair. In this shop, writers can take refuge. They are offered lodging and a typewriter to continue their work, as long as they keep on creating. As a result, Shakespeare and Company was the favorite haunt of great literary minds.

Montreal Exclusive: Jean-Paul Gaultier Exhibit!

For my readers, I have a coverage of the Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Musee des Beaux-Arts de Montreal), "From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk".

Rather than following a chronological timeline, the exhibit displays Gaultier's main themes: his works focus on exploring and challenging cultural barriers, creating his own unique universe.

 

For such singular creations, it comes as no surprise that the Museum of Fine Arts of Montreal chose a more inventive manner of displaying his works rather than placing them on hangers! A great number of the mannequins were animated.  In the entrance, occupying a spot front and center, is Gaultier himself. Well, almost - a mannequin bedecked with his iconic sailor shirt explains with Gaultier's voice his inspiration for many elements of the exhibit.

The idea of the radiant creatures that inhabit the mysterious abyss, and the doomed romance between them and the sailors is captured in the examples from his 2008 collection.

Gaultier broke down barriers and created works that were considered shocking, even in this modern era. His attitude is one that all designers should attempt to emulate: that in order to make your mark upon history and its course, one has to transform the symbols that shape it. He took the corset, a sign of submission, of negativity, of lack of self-assurance, and transformed it into something positive, freeing it of the preconceptions surrounding it.

This beautiful dress shows off an eco-conscient attitude: it gives the wearer the lovely, luxurious look of fur, without the guilt of wearing a real pelt. The entire fur is made of small beads.

The Rose

Pursuit

This is the latest creation of an artist that Princess Ta-Dam will be showcasing. The title of this work is Pursuit.

Let Them Eat Cake!- Fashion Trends at Versailles

Wandering through the opulent halls of Versailles was like a realization of all of my sparkly, chandelier-covered rococo interior design dreams. The sunlight streaming through the heavily tasseled windows was increased a hundredfold once it hit the crystals dripping off their golden anchors; the furniture was either gilded or a deep, gorgeous woodsy hue, and feathers appeared in the decor periodically.

 Basically, I was in a very ornate heaven! But what really made us at Princess Ta-dam sing the praises of this gilded palace were the deep, saturated textiles that graced every room with their presence.

This inspired a new collection with only the richest of hues, the most shimmering of silks, and themost luxurious feel yet.

Counting Blessings: Blessing #1 - Old fashioned Typewriters

Counting Blessings, my new blogpost collection, started out with a poem. I was thinking to myself: "What a gloriously excellent title!"
And so started the poem that became my first published piece of writing.
We're surrounded by little, beautiful things that sometimes we don't really notice because of the sheer number of them.
Every now and then, it's healthy to take a step back and admire. Counting only a small fraction of them will really surprise you (in a good way!). Give it a try today!
So many wonderful things that pass by unnoticed, that have faded to a mere background.
This is a tribute to them.

A typewriter should be the doctor's prescription for any case of writer's block or editing mishaps. Paragraphs seem to flow with unobstructed ease, spurred merely by a good idea and the delicious clack of keys. Every letter is accompanied by a clean, crisp sound that makes your writing sound important. A burst of inspiration is applauded by an absolute torrent of clicking and clacking. You are rewarded for your genius with the dance of delicate wires, working in the undergrowth of the forest of creamy keys to bring you the freshly painted words that you have just conceived.

A typewriter proudly acknowledges the fact that you are hard at work and that you are, in fact, inspired, when a computer couldn't care less, and barely registers your furious tapping with a muted click. A typewriter will never abandon you with excuses of "program failure" or "non-responsive networks" or worse, a complete "shutdown", as a computer does. A typewriter is faithful to the bitter end, and will only entice you with an innocent glow of its glory days, earnestly begging you to write.

Inside Peek At the Louvre - Part 1: Getting In- Hassle-free!

Hello!

A tourist in Paris usually has a list of goals to reach: one of them, generally near the top, is to visit the Louvre on the first Sunday of the month, one of the few days that visits to the prestigious museum are free. However, anyone who has tried getting a glimpse of the Mona Lisa knows how crowded the Louvre can be! So take that crowd and multiply by 100. That is about the size of the line that day.... if you don't have insider info, that is! Princess Ta-dam readers, this is your lucky day- in this post, I will show you how to get into the Louvre for free, in a waiting line of 4 people max! It sure beats the hundreds at the front entrance!


Here is a picture I took of this secluded entrance on my last trip to Paris: the entrance is Porte de Lions.

To see a map of the different entrances, you can find it at this link: http://www.louvre.fr/llv/pratique/venir.jsp?bmLocale=en

Good luck!

the Rose

New Addition to the Carnevale line!

Here is the latest addition to the Carnevale line, Shine.

Forget Spring Cleaning: Spruce up your style

Have you ever tried to type into Google the phrase "Spring To-Do List"?
All you end up getting is advice about how to spring clean your closets.
Well, instead of re-organizing your wardrobe, here's some advice for re-inventing it: pick the suggestions that fit your personality and transform your style!

- Wear a cloche hat, a beret or a fedora.

- Buy a canary yellow dress (but instead of calling the shade 'yellow', call it 'tournesol'), and wear it on a grey, rainy day.

- Wear fashion like it's yours, Comme les Garcons style: own your look, and don't look uncomfortable - you look great.

- Pair an arrogant grass-green t-shirt with a chunky white necklace.

- Wear a scarf that makes you feel like poetry in motion.

- Cover your arm in bracelets, and when you think you're done, add 3 more and go out the door.

- Buy the outrageously expensive new rouge Dior in a petal shade.

- The next time you see that pair of rain boots in that outrageous hue and crazy awesome pattern, go ahead and buy it: don't worry, it'll look good with absolutely everything!

- Replace all of your plastic hangers with some in wood. Better for your health.

- Get a beautifully intricate henna tattoo. If you change your mind at any time, you can easily wash it off.

- Ditch the chamomile tea. It's been a long winter. Have some espresso shots: time to wake up!

Spring is all about rebirth and reinvention, so don't go back to the same old habit of diving back into your closet and not finding the burst of 'awesome' you were looking for in the first place.

Instead of spring cleaning, throw a 'Welcome back, Spring!' party!
Then throw on a scarf that complements your much adored rain boots,
and embrace the joie-de-vivre of spring!

the Rose

Paris- the city of lights!

Over March break, I travelled to Paris- such a fabulous change of scene!

Back in Montreal, we still had weather like this...

so the beautifully green and manicured French grounds were sooo refreshing!

One of the many nicknames Paris has is 'the City of Lights', so I decided to show off this side of Paris in this blogpost.

Here is a picture I took of this gorgeous midnight merry-go-round next to the hotel de ville (city hall). There were skaters at this outdoor skating rink, and this glorious smell of fried doughnuts in the air. I couldn't resist getting a ticket for this 'manege': it's one of my little caprices (whims) when I travel.

This shot is of the Champs-Elysees, one of the greatest fashion boulevards in the world. The picture was taken from the top of the Arc-de-Triomphe.

This was the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower all lit  up and sparkly: it's colour seems to change with every shimmer- is it lavender? rose pink? glowing bronze? Beautifully scintillating and the true symbol of Paris.

Up next: Fashion Updates from Paris

New Collection- Carnevale

Orders at: 514-318-3608 OR http://www.princessta-dam.com/ (allow 2 weeks for delivery)

We at Princess Ta-dam are very excited to introduce our newest collection, Carnevale! Combining the sheen of silk with the gleam of pearls and the crackle of tulle, our collection of masks and accompanying accessories capture the essence of Carnevale in Venice. More coming soon!

Midnight

Juliet's Poison



New Collection- High Treason: The History of the Red Necklace

After the French Revolution, fundraising parties were held to support the surviving nobles: at these grand events, women would wear red necklaces, to symbolize the telltale signature of the guillotine.

There is nothing quite as arresting as an exquisite red necklace. Along with the fact that red can suit any skin tone, from the richest of ebonies to the creamiest of alabasters, it is also the colour of jewellery that is hardest to find. Why? There is a range of reasons: one would be that of all tints of glass, red is the most expensive to create, as it requires gold to make red shades. Another would be that coral, a component that appears in a lot of red jewellery, is strictly protected by the environmental authorities. Either way, this gorgeous jewellery is difficult to obtain, for both the wearer and the creator.

Celebrating red, the color of fire, of passion, of love, of danger and everything in between, here is the first of our collection: Blackheart. the Rose

D.I.Y. Project- The Eco Fireplace

If you love the sense of setting that a fireplace lends to a room, or the possibilities that the mantlepiece above it presents, but cannot have one, whether out of love for the environment, asthma problems or the sheer expense of keeping it, here is an elegant, eco-friendly and modern solution to this dilemma: the eco fireplace.

By lining the back of an MDF or wooden box with a metal sheet, we can gently reflect the light from the pillar candles, offering a softened glow.

If the chosen pillar candles are soy candles with cotton wicks, then they are safe to use indoors for long periods at a time and are environmentally friendly!

Try to use candles of differing heights, especially taller ones to draw the eyes upward.

Afterwards, you can unleash your creativity on the mantlepiece design. For this one, we chose an ornate black frame and placed silk of a very rich, delicious green shade inside. With the objects below, we chose to toe the line between antique and modern with a grouping of abstract sculptures and a vintage-style figure that still bears geometric designs evoking modernism.

An advantage that the eco fireplace has over the traditional fireplace is the fact that, unlike the traditional fireplace, the eco fireplace is not permanently fixed. You can rearrange its position to your heart's content!

the Rose

Inspiration File: The City of Dreaming Books, by Walter Moers

I believe that these inspiration files need a bit of explanation- they aren't just fashion trends, or anything neccessarily related to the fashion industry; they can also be things that caught our eyes, that made us marvel, or wonder, something that made us breathless before its awesomeness (both the modern and archaic definitions can be applied here).

The first entry in my category, 'The Inspiration File', is this absolutely wonderful novel, 'The City of Dreaming Books', by Walter Moers. I came across it around boxing day in my local bookstore. On a table covered with scattered books that had been *ransacked* by eager bargainhunters, I saw the title written in gleaming letters, drowning under cheap romances. Fishing it out, it fell open, displaying a gorgeous style of writing, and I just knew: this is my book. The perfect title drew me in, filled with promise... An overleaf covered in an ink-crosshatching illustration seemed to back up that guarantee....  A level of description that takes in every detail simply announced an excellent and satisfying read. 

Everything necessary for a whirlwind adventure is present; from a city devoted to books (my idea of heaven on earth!!!!), to the mysterious Shadow King that rules the dark-drenched catacombs below, a search for the author of a manuscript of towering genius, a conspiracy that could eclipse literature in their world forever.... Need I say more?

Overall, a gorgeous book that will evoke happy sighs from bookworms, make literati chuckle at the clever inside jokes, shock any reader with the stunning plot twists that no one will see coming, and is perfect for any occupant of a comfortable armchair on a cold winter day. An adventure story with a high IQ and a commonsensical hero, the City of Dreaming Books is definitely worth a good look!

Happy Reading!
the Rose

To find out more....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_of_Dreaming_Books

Collection Inspiration: Entering the World of Everafter

Watch out, new year! March 2011 is going to witness a return of several memorable names- do Grimm and Villeneuve ring a bell? This coming year will see the original fairytales coming back to us, but not as we remember them- bedtime stories that always have happy endings, protagonists that are unaccessible paragons of virtue (perfect in every way), but unfortunately assailed by an array of the darkest of forces from that wild and unpredictable land of Faerie, that playground of dreams and nightmares- these tales have shed their masks of easy distinctions between right and wrong, with mortal, vulnerable heroes, braced for a modern world.  

Red Riding Hood has grown up and has acquired levels of dark and beautiful complexity.

Beastly tells the story from a radically new angle, with a modern Beast in New York City.

Intrigued by this clash between modern ideas and tales from a faraway time, Princess Ta-dam's 2011 collections will reflect this: a collision of two worlds will occur, a meeting of modern style and comfort with fabrics and patterns that evoke the gorgeous, ethereal quality of the world of 'Ever Afters'.
The Rose

Down the Rabbithole

As a child, I didn't much appreciate my meanderings through the underground world of Alice in Wonderland. The original Disney rendition was much like a Technicolour nightmare for my young self, with a bizarre set of characters that all seemed very loud and too overly moonstruck to be believable.  The book itself, to my commonsensical 5th grade mind, was without a head or a tail: rather, it was more like an odd assortment of bits and pieces that suddenly agreed to pull themselves together to form something vaguely ressembling a novel and was, by a very strange audience of critics, dubbed a classic.
However, it was only at 15, as I developed a discerning eye and a knack at seeing the hidden metaphor through the supposed madness, that I started seeing what a gem 'Alice in Wonderland' truly is. It is actually a lovely and elegantly written metaphor for life and growing up, so well written that it takes a skilled and cultured palate to realize what it is under the glamour. The fantastically whimsical crazy characters are no more crazy than the people we run into every day, the incredible transformations that Alice goes through are just like the growing-up process. And so began a beautiful friendship that resulted in many ramblings in Wonderland.
However, to the world outside several small 'in-the-know' creative communities, Alice in Wonderland was a perpetual fixture on the nursery-book shelf, only dusted off in order to make some new woefully inadequate cartoon version; that is, until Tim Burton got to it. With his new version that was grafted seamlessly into the other two books, the world exploded with Alice references, in music, fashion and literature. Pocketwatches were suddenly a sought-after accessory, and the gorgeous costumes inspired many a fashion house.
The world may have moved on, but the small crafting communities still recognize Wonderland's worth and find it a source of inspiration. Etsy still stocks dozens of pocketwatches, one of which I acquired for my birthday (fulfilling a lifelong whim), crazily patterned teacups can be found anywhere and so, the Caucus race runs on. Princess Ta-dam is also a part of this, featuring sturdy, functional yet fashionable totes, all with the dreamlike, colourful prints that just scream Alice in Wonderland.

the Rose

New Collection- The Violet Hour

For the last few years, the vampire-fuelled rage has swept the world, and even more lately, the fashion industry. We see vampire inspirations pop up everywhere - Converse shoes with hand-painted images of Bella and Edward, an influx of Ray-Bans (how does it link to vampires? Watch Edward's eyegear in Twilight), Revlon's Just Bitten lipgloss line, and, more recently, a flood of 'Vampire Diaries'-inspired leather jackets and intricate lockets [vervain, anyone?]. We are proud to announce that Princess Ta-dam is the newest member of this genre: our vampire collection (predicted to be released in January) will have a contemporary look, with some pieces still looking back at another era that the vampires dominated, a hint of victorian style, a blend of modern and era-reminiscent materials.
Expect in the recent future the arrival of 'leather-rosette' adorned headbands, and necklaces in darkly shimmering shades, of shadowed yet sparkling crystal and dusky glittering silk, in our new collection, 'the Violet Hour'.

the Rose

The Poisoned Apple- Blood, Silk and Chocolate

In reading the first part of this title, you might have been struck with the question: why 'the Poisoned Apple'? This is the perfect metaphor for the great majority of the fashion industry as we know it. Imagine the most beautiful candy apple you have ever seen: all glistening, having just emerged from a glossy, fire-engine red ocean of liquid candy, looking as though all that's missing are your teeth sinking into one crisp-sounding, sweet and sour bite. Go ahead. Take that bite. But instead of that joyous flavour of rainbows and beautiful fall days, you are unpleasantly surprised by a bitter taste, not unlike missing a step on the stair. You feel as though you've been cheated: the promisingly glossy exterior hid an unpleasantly mushy and tasteless flesh, and even the toothaching sugariness can't hide the fact that under its sleek shell, it is rotten to the core.
Walk in any mall near you: slip into your favorite stores. Hear the rustle of silk as your fingers glide across that liquid moonlight, don a fluorescent-paint splattered punk t-shirt, twirl around a few times in front of the mirror in a Jane Austen-inspired sundress, or whatever else grabs your fancy. Would it surprise you, shock you even, if your most coveted clothing article, that most perfect, faultless item, was made by an exploited and malnourished child, living in the most desolate of surroundings and environments, who faces daily the possibility of being  whipped for stopping even a moment to catch their breath? Has this thought even crossed your mind?
The title of this article incorporates three important elements in the modern use of slavery in industry: firstly, Blood - the kind of hardships that these modern slaves undergo that we cannot allow to continue-, Silk - the use of slavery in the fashion industry-, and Chocolate, one of the more notable examples that must be mentioned, which has a very long history of cruelty. 
People all over the globe are desperate for money to survive, to protect their families, and are unaware of the rights they retain. Unfortunately, they often become the prey of sweatshops and plantations, that promise the possibility of earning that much sought after money, tantalizingly offer dreams of freedom and being one's own master, even agreeing to provide food and lodging, when they then reveal their true colours, forcing the newly drafted employees to (depending on the domain of work) slave away in the fields, brave the arduous and unceasing work and the elements  or operate and repair (to great danger to themselves) dangerous machinery in factories, for hours on end, with no breaks, and with only a meagre and insufficient meal in their stomachs. Illness does not excuse you, neither does injury: resting or stopping for a moment can and will cost you physical punishment. There is no one to pick you up after you have fallen. Workers drop dead in the fields, the hardships having been too much. There is no breaking the pact you have made: all you can do is hope for a miracle. 
Thousands of adults and children are being employed in sweatshops all over the world. The exact number is unknown as the transactions are illegal, and therefore statistics that are any more than approximative are not possible. Who works in sweatshops? As mentioned before, there are people looking to make a better life for their family, people who have no other choice, and, the most heartbreaking of workers, children. Many are kidnapped, some are tempted away by the opportunity of helping their family; this tactic is very effective in certain African countries, where there is always a  distant relative who can offer to procure a job and accompany their young niece or nephew on the journey to their workplace; others are enticed by dreams of luxuries that are ordinary to a North American child, but are rarities in third world countries. More heartbreaking still, some parents put their sons or daughters there to obtain money to raise the rest of the children. 
Who employs this kind of brute force to manufacture their products? Surely not our North American chains. The answer is: yes, our brandnames, the most trusted, established here long ago. If the item you buy is not explicitly marked fair-trade, and comes from a third-world country, there is a very good chance that it employs slave labour. Don't be convinced by the fact that they sponsor good causes: an excellent example would be Gap. It has its 'Do the RED thing' campaign, and yet it was discovered that a line of shirts of theirs were embroidered in a sweatshop employing children in India! This is the stark reality for many companies, more than we care to hear.    
However, this isn't the end of the road: there is a new generation of shoppers who are realizing the importance of their choices, just as there is a new wave in couture, one that has high hopes and expectations of cleansing and redeeming the ethics of fashion. This movement is starting in the smaller fashion houses, that want to clean this act up and make clothing articles that are beautiful, comfortable, and care about the people who made them and the environment, and it'll slowly but surely work its way up to the  bigger companies. Princess Ta-dam is proud to be a part of the fair-trade movement. 

The Rose      

Roses Painted Red

 “‘Who in the world am I?’ Now that’s the great puzzle!”

-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Answering this question with a reflection not only on who I am, but also who the society of today strives to be, will be a fitting self-introduction to the world within my first blog post.
What is my purpose on this Earth? Do I really belong here? What are we doing here? “‘Who in the world am I?’ Now that’s the great puzzle!”-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland. Throughout our lives, especially in these ever-shifting and changing times, we often ask ourselves these questions: more often than not, the answers elude us. But do they really? Could we be the ones running away? Could we be almost afraid to answer these questions, and prefer to hide blissfully behind rose-coloured glasses? To really grow as a person, to find out where you are and where you should be going, I challenge you to probe at the canvas of the self-image you’ve painted and ask the question: Who am I?
While writing this blogpost, I’ve mulled over what culture tells us about self: but after I’ve scrutinized the proverbial mirror on the wall and pried it off its hinges, then the big question on the tip of my tongue found its way onto paper: can you stay true to who you are, and yet be in a state of constant change, of growth?   
 What does staying true to yourself mean? Where does faith to the unique self end and being stuck in old traditions begin? Well, for me, it means knowing your mind well, knowing what your values are and staying with them. Like a clam, the world is irritated by what sticks out from the softness, like a grain of sand. But if the grain persists, if it stays resolute, then it will turn into a pearl.
What is it that defines us? What do you think of when you are asked who you are? Your name may surface, a cross may shimmer as a response or a look in the mirror might tell you enough. Or maybe, like Alice, you too search for yourselves amongst your peers: is she herself anymore, or has she become one of the children she knows? When was the last time you saw others trying to imitate one of their ‘cooler’ friends just to please? Or those masses of people dressed almost identically, that just by throwing one glance their way, you can categorize, file, and punt them into a box, where they’ll stay, collecting dust, forever under a label you gave them in 5 seconds of reflection? These labels weren’t created by you, nor the files and boxes: these were pressed onto you and into your way of thinking by society. But society is not always right: nobody is born to fit these files, and yet we all struggle to conform. So why keep the labels? Wouldn’t discarding them lead to a happier life, rather than having to quash down what makes you you?
We are not defined by our situation, but rather, what we make of it: your character, who you are, hinges on how you react when presented with what you have. You could be blessed with everything you need to be a mover-and-shaker, but if you don’t use what you have, then your chances of fading into averageness are just as great. Vice-versa, if you have little, but are bent on being the best you can be, then nothing can stop you. 
Is a person more the mind, or the body? Your first judgement is of their outer appearance. But when you get to know them closely, which is more important to you, the thoughts and dreams, or the face and mannerisms? This paradox is universally documented in literature: in the play Cyrano de Bergerac, Roxanne fell in love with the soul of the disfigured suitor, and not the pretty face of the other. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ‘Love is painted blind’. Don Quixote, the noble yet mad knight, loved the ugliest woman. Stephenie Meyer’s The Host stars a girl being inhabited by a peaceful alien, and was beloved by two boys, one loving the girl and her soul, and the other loving the alien, no matter what body she lived in. Edward, the vampire of the year, would love a mortal, despite her being the victim of the ravages of time. The body is a shell for the soul, the glistening pearl.  
We are losing our grips on who we are: media demands that men should be muscled and women should be smoky-eyed, pouting and skinny, advertisements promise a new- and consequently better- you, as long as you buy their hair-gel. All these clamouring voices try to convince you that you need better clothes, a better body, a better everything, that you are anything but perfect, and while they’re tearing you down, they offer you evanescent happiness in a bottle- with a price tag included of course! Have you ever noticed that modern fairy-tales for girls always link beautiful with ‘happily ever after’? From Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me’ music video to Anne Hathaway’s transformation in Princess Diaries, the happy ending stipulates becoming beautiful. But what of accepting people, or yourself, as you are?
Growing up, living, is like a tumble down the rabbit hole: you feel as tall as a tower, then like you can melt through the floorboards, you can sometimes scarcely believe you are who you were before you started changing so much, and sometimes everyone seems absolutely mad! “Who am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle!” Well, my penname is 'the Rose', I take my real first name after a Roman empress, I inherited my father’s silver-blue eyes and my mother’s compassionate yet feisty nature, I’m a through-to-the-bone Montréalaise, openly literati, a closet botanist, Jane Austen fanatic, dark chocolate enthusiast, proud guitar owner and if I’m a white rose, I refuse to be painted red to accede to the whims of an idle queen. I AM.
Signed,

the Rose