I recently got a chance to collaborate with Courtne Smith, the beauty and the brains behind fashion blog Queen Shmink. Here’s a recap of the 3 different looks we shot, all of which I absolutely love. Definitely expect more collabs in the future with Courtne!!

Another year. Another BBQ.

Old friends. New friends. All good friends.

Community camera. Candid photos.

Cold drinks. Warm drinks. Mix drinks. “WTF-was-in-that-drink?” drinks.

Man, even looking back at just one year ago I can already see tons of change from myself and many of my friends. It’s really crazy to be honest, this year might’ve been the absolute quickest year to pass by me lol, but atleast I’ll have photos to remember it by. Every year it also seems like we have more RSVP’s than people who actually show up… very humbling. Which also means we end up with extra food, drinks, and other fun stuff.

If you’ve been following my blog (thank you if you do, even if it’s just a random check-up every now and then), you’ll know that this year was quite the rollercoaster ride. I don’t wanna go into it too much because I’ve probably already written about it, or it’ll come up in future posts but this year involved a lot of growing and expanding. Am I satisfied? Err… not too much, there’s still much more I want and NEED to do… but that’s what this year will be for lol.

Shout outs to everyone who came out and celebrated our birthdays with us, I know it definitely meant a lot to us.

Until the next 365. The “could’ve, would’ve, and perhaps I should’ve but I wouldn’t have it any other way” reflections.

Cheers & take care.

If you’re into the current indie/alternative R&B scene (Frank Ocean, Miguel, Jhene Aiko, The Weeknd & more), you may have heard of the name ‘JMSN’. Although describing JMSN’s genre of music may be heard, trust me when I say that his music translates very well once you listen.

This past Tuesday JMSN crossed the American border and his tour stopped in Toronto, something many of his Canadian fans have been waiting for. Although ‘Wrongbar’ as a venue is nothing special, it’s far from special if we’re being honest lol, JMSN still delivered an amazing performance. It’s particularly hard to be a good performer nowadays with all the studio tools and digital plug-ins artists have at their access nowadays. So when fans walked away happy from this event, I know he delivered.

For more information on JMSN, check out his website www.iamjmsn.com. Also check out www.hustleGRL.com soon for an event recap.

The past weekend in Toronto has been an absolute whirlwind of weather changes ranging from beautiful summer weather to literally hail, cold, and rain. I had the opportunity to photographer Catherine & Tyler for their engagement photographs alongside my good friend and wedding photographer, Terry Ting.

We started out grabbing a quick coffee at Starbucks, walked around the High Park neighbourhood in search of some Cherry blossoms as the park was closed, and then finally made our way to University of Toronto campus. Needless to say it was a bit chilly when we first started the shoot, however as the shoot progressed, the temperature (along with the sunlight) continued to drop dramatically. It was such a pleasure photographing Catherine & Tyler, they are an amazing and lovely couple. Really great guys with a killer sense of humor, much kudos goes to them as well for braving the cold.

I’m absolutely ecstatic to be shooting their wedding alongside Terry in September of this year.

Man, where do I start with this one? Coming into the venue, I was totally not expecting for Brooke’s bridal shower to be this amazing, intricate, and beautifully set up. Everything from the decor, the desserts, and the styling was so on point with the Moulin Rouge theme. The ladies even made their grand entrance with a special dance. It was a beautiful celebration, and beneath all of the details and planning, it was a celebration of love for Brooke & Matt. The bridal party was excited and happy, the parents, and of course the many guests… everyone participated in some way or the other in the many games as well as the walk-off, the can-can, and the dance off.

Even looking back on the photographs right now, I’m still a bit blown away lol. It was such an honor to photograph this event.

Now I don’t usually post up the cover videos that we shoot for The Theorist, but this one I particularly like. The cover is great, recording it at the studio was an awesome time, and we have some funny Vines (app for 6-seconds video sharing) for BTS footage lol. Check down below for everything.

VINE: thextheorist

VINE: EVRYTHNGWILLBE

“I’m from the frigid cold… like, I’m from where everyday feels like the world is ending and shit.

Those summers are the most memorable summers…
ever…
of our lives.”

- someone speaking on life in Toronto

// CREW. // LOVE. //

It’s a bit crazy but… of my 23 years of living, as well as being born and raised in Toronto, I have never been to a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game… until today. Does that say something about me, or does that say something about the team? lol. It’s probably me though seeing as how I’ve never visited the CN tower as well.

So today was the momentous day of my first ball game, and what better way to start it than by getting a little mid-day buzz going on. Thank you duty-free Hennessy for that lol. Now whether or not it was because of the Jays’ game or not, but traffic in downtown Toronto today was just horrendous. After forking over $30 for parking (totally got hustled) we finally made it to the Rogers Center (previously known as The SkyDome) during the 3rd inning… by which the Jays were ALREADY down 5 to 0 lol *insert WTH face*

Some of us bought some team paraphernalia, some got food & drinks, but we finally made our way to our seats around the 4th-5th inning. It only went downhill from there.

When all was said and done, The Boston Red Sox walked away from our stadium with a final score of 13 to 0 in their favor. The only thing that kept our spirits up during the game was the constant flow of beer lol. That, and the random “runner” who hopped onto the field and proceeded to slide to 2nd base, and then tried to outrun security.

Will I ever watch another Blue Jays game in its entirety? Probably not. I hear we have a “good” team this season… but then again if you’re from Toronto, you hear that about a lot of our sports teams every season lol. I’ll just stick to my TSN/Sportsnet highlights from here on out.

Last week the crazy talented Ryan Leslie came through Toronto to perform as part of the Canadian Music Week. Although I’m not the biggest fan of his new “rapping” persona, you still can’t deny the man’s skill as a songwriter and producer.

For a review of the concert, swerve over to hustleGRL. Shout outs to Karla for making this happen, and to Shantel for the dope write-up.