PENDA SARR

Thank You Toronto

4:49:00 PM

Hello hello! I've officially had my website for a year now so I figured a new post would be the perfect way to celebrate the blog and al...

Hello hello! I've officially had my website for a year now so I figured a new post would be the perfect way to celebrate the blog and all of my support from you guys. It's also the end of the semester so I also have a little bit of free time to write! This will probably be a more personal post because the pieces of my look and the city of Toronto overall are very important to me.

I've been living in Toronto for 4 years now, and boy, has it been a trip. To be very honest with you, Toronto was not part of my post-highschool graduation plans. I was so set on going to university in Montréal or staying somewhere in the United States. However, I decided to take a leap of faith and come here. I really do believe that everything happens for a reason and that God puts you right where you belong. With that being said, I don't regret my decision because I owe a lot of my personal growth to this city.

Highschool was a bubble. It was the same routine everyday, my friends and I all came from similar backgrounds and lived in a small community. Toronto shattered my bubble. I stepped out of my comfort zone, met people who were different and learned to look at things from a new perspective. I feel like college does that to you, it teaches you how to be independent and throws all of these new experiences at you. I had the worst self-esteem in highschool, even though it didn't seem like it. I felt like I didn't fit the typical beauty standard in terms of my face and body, so it was hard to be confident in myself. However, that all changed when I came to Toronto.

My first year in Canada helped let go of everything negative: negative vibes, people, energy and thoughts. Everything. It was a scary thing to do but I took this as a "fresh new beginning", and that's exactly what it was. I practiced self-love and learned to accept the things about myself that I could not change. I stopped the comparisons, the only person I had to compete with was myself.

This is where my love for fashion began. I wasn't always skinny. In fact, I was about 80 pounds larger in my first year of university. I remember those around me and my doctor nicely suggesting to "lose weight" or "eat more healthy". And that's how they said it, they sugarcoated it, and that made me angry. So I told myself that yes, I would adopt a healthier lifestyle, not to please everyone around me, but for myself. I would go to class, come back to my dorm room and then immediately hit the gym. I spent hours on blogs and fitness websites taking notes on what type of food to eat and exercises to perform. I made meal plans, wrote down schedules for my workouts and put up motivating post-its all over my room.As months went by, I was losing weight and beginning to gain confidence in myself. So, I started going to stores and malls more. I became more comfortable going into fitting rooms and looking at myself in the mirror because I was pleased with my body and ultimately, myself. And honestly, that's all that matters. As long as you like yourself and accept your flaws, everyone else's comments or opinions don't matter.

The end of my 2nd year wasn't as good as my first one in terms of my personal life, but that's ok because it's normal to go through ups and downs. So, on my flight home to New York for the summer holidays, I decided to have a "summer of me" and created the blog. I brainstormed themes, layouts, outfit ideas, you name it. I told myself that this was going to be a summer where I would practice self-love and the blog contributed immensely to that. Fast forward and here we are to my 4th year. The blog has become my baby and I've become heavily interested in all things fashion. Honestly, I don't think that all of this would have happened if I had stayed in a familiar setting like Montréal or the United States.

Alright, now let's talk style :). This look was special to me because I combined pieces that each have a cool story to them. First, the wool hat I am wearing in the pictures below was one of the first things I bought when I became comfortable going shopping and experimenting with different outfits. I think I wore it pretty much all throughout my 2nd year, figured it needed a comeback haha.

The common thing between the sweater, pants and shoes is the fact that they all come from Zara. There's a Zara close to my condo so naturally, I find myself in there a lot(it's embarrassing honestly). Pants and sweaters, paired with some killer heeled booties became my "go-to" outfit during the cold winter months in Toronto and these items usually always came from Zara.

Out of the three things, the boots are my favorite. The shoe is so unique thanks to the gradient heel, can help a look stand out so much.

As for the coat, I'm super attached to it because it's one of the items I first bought when I received money from my internship with a fashion website. I was so happy when I got the job because I was like "omg I don't even know that much but fashion" but it was a really nice experience.

I'm really happy I moved to Toronto. It contributed to my nascent interests in fashion and has allowed me to focus on my schoolwork as well as my passions. With that being said, I am almost done with my final exams so I will definitely be taking a break. It's time to go back home to New York and begin my summer! Toronto, I'll be back soon.

Thank you for reading! I apologize for the length of the post but this was really something I wanted to share with you guys.

See you next time!

With love,

Penda

Outfit details:

Sweater, Pants, Shoes: Zara

Coat: ASOS

Bag: Prada

Hat: H&M

Get the look!

Sweater:

https://www.zara.com/ca/en/woman/knitwear/cashmere/cashmere-sweater-c796022p4179573.html

Pants:

https://www.zara.com/ca/en/woman/trousers/view-all/stretch-waist-skinny-trousers-c719022p4264557.html

Shoes:

https://www.zara.com/ca/en/woman/shoes/boots-and-ankle-boots/contrast-high-heel-ankle-boots-c893503p4108509.html

Coat:

http://www.asos.com/asos/asos-belted-duster-coat-with-split-sleeve/prd/7226472?iid=7226472&clr=Black&SearchQuery=black%20duster%20coat&pgesize=19&pge=0&totalstyles=19&gridsize=3&gridrow=1&gridcolumn=3

Bag:

http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/main/ProductDetail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374306622829&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524447043294&R=8052040139174&P_name=Prada&N=4294912360+306622829&bmUID=lJhUFsc
Hat:

http://www.hm.com/us/product/66023?article=66023-A&cm_vc=SEARCH

Connect with me:

Instagram: @pendasarr
Snapchat: @pendouchi

Simplicity

12:36:00 PM

Hello hello! Happy Wednesday and more importantly, Happy International Women's Day! I hope you're all doing well and surviving thr...

Hello hello! Happy Wednesday and more importantly, Happy International Women's Day!

I hope you're all doing well and surviving through this surprisingly bipolar weather. I mean, I'm not complaining because temperature changes have allowed me to play around with some potential outfits for the spring. As the winter is slowly coming to an end, I find it necessary to "re-adjust" my style. That means I have to ditch the heavy jackets and boots, and opt for lighter coats, blouses or even flats.

For me, warmer and less windy weather signifies simplicity. Admittedly, it's hard to no longer layer when you've been doing it for the past 4 months but on the bright side, your face is no longer dry and icy.
The key to achieving a simple yet stylish ensemble is combining key pieces which will help you stand out whether it be for a daytime or evening look. Because I'm usually on the chic/preppy side, this is something I'm always trying to improve. Other bloggers and youtubers have taught me that adding colors and accessories help elevate an outfit, all whilst keeping it cool and casual.
Taking their advice into account, I wore a black and white combo, paired with glossy red heeled flats. Of course, the shoes elevate the look ; however, the white top is also key as it has a particular style: it's tied in the center, which almost gives an opening near my abdomen :

These shoes are seriously one of the most comfortable pair I own! They make me feel like I'm some type of #girlboss on my way to a meeting(but really I'm just going to class haha).

Another way to keep your look simple yet polished and vivid is of course, by adding colorful accessories and bags. To keep everything coordinated, I wore two leather bracelets from Longchamp: a blue and red one to match the tones of my multi-color clutch. The bag is actually quite spacious; this is great because it complements my outfit and I can store all my cute girly products in it(should we do a "what's in my bag" blogpost next haha?).

Of course, there are multiple other ways to update an outfit. These can include a hat, scarves, or pieces such as tassel earrings and ornate rings. Like I always say, just figure out what you think goes best with your style and try it out :).

Thank you so much for reading! Enjoy the rest of your week.

With love,

Penda

Outfit details:

Top, pants, shoes: Zara

Bracelets: Longchamp

Get the look!

Top:

http://www.zara.com/ca/en/woman/t-shirts/short-sleeve/knotted-t-shirt-c401008p4344010.html

Pants:

http://www.zara.com/ca/en/woman/trousers/view-all/stretch-waist-skinny-trousers-c719022p4264557.html

Shoes:

http://www.zara.com/ca/en/woman/shoes/view-all/yellow-leather-mid-heel-shoes-c719531p4357513.html

Red bracelet:

http://ca.longchamp.com/en/accessories/le-pliage-cuir/jewelry-5448737?sku=3143

Blue bracelet:

http://ca.longchamp.com/en/accessories/le-pliage-heritage-luxe/jewelry-4823868?sku=3012

Connect with me:

Instagram: @pendasarr

Snapchat: @pendouchi

A discussion on love

1:15:00 PM

Happy Valentine's day! I hope you all have a day filled with nothing but love, happiness and this type of mood: To be honest, I fi...

Happy Valentine's day! I hope you all have a day filled with nothing but love, happiness and this type of mood:

To be honest, I find love to be one of the hardest emotions to describe. It has a different meaning for each one of us, and I think that's what makes it even more beautiful. Even before today, the word has been on my mind lately. I guess it might be due to the fact that I've been listening to lots of smooth and slow 90s r&b songs haha? I've recently started writing in my journal again and today, I just scribbled some words that I thought related to the term, so I'm going to properly organize my thoughts on this blogpost.

Tough-love:

By definition(yes, I went on wikipedia for this), tough love signifies the promotion of a person's welfare by enforcing certain constraints on them or requiring them to take responsibility for their actions. I come from a place where tough-love is instilled in our culture. Looking back on it, I now realize that I was (and still am) surrounded by some of the strongest women, notably my mother, aunts and grandmothers as well as other non-maternal figures who also seem to have had this "tough" love upbringing. My family and closest friends always showed this type of love towards me, and even though at the time I hated it, I now understand and am extremely grateful to them for doing that. I think it's helped shape me into the resilient and intuitive woman I am today. But here's the thing, I am well aware that this type of love doesn't work for everyone. I guess it was fine with me because I'm the oldest of my siblings so I always had to "endure" and be the setting example.

Friendships:

I think after our relationships with our families, the ones with our friends are the most important. I find it crazy how being around certain people can affect who you are and the things you do. I've also noticed that as time goes by, you'll come to realize that the love you have for certain friends will fade, and that's ok. People tend to equate love to how much you endure or stick out with someone because you have "history" with that person or because "you've been through a lot". As Nina Simone once said: "you have to learn to leave the table when love is no longer being served".
I'm not going to lie, I've been through experiences like that in my teenage years. However, it was once I came to university that I realized it was alright to outgrow certain people because at the end of the day, what's best for me is what matters the most.

And then on the other hand, you have the strong friendships which are characterized by mutual respect, support, and trust, amongst other things. Hold on tight to these type of people; it's rare to find gems like that. Great friendships will contribute to your personal growth and happiness. It's so important to find people who are always there for you, through the good times and bad times as well.

Self-love:

Out of every type of love, I think this is the most important. Self-love signifies giving love, care, and attention to ourselves. I really think this is one of the best ways to experience happiness. Because, at the end of the day, you can't rely on other people to make you happy. The first person to love before anyone else is yourself. This will set the foundation for your other relationships, whether they be for a family member, friend or significant partner. Think about it this way: you can't properly give to someone what you don't have and vice-versa. Admittedly, this is one of the hardest loves to practice because it really has to do with affirming who you really are and being at ease with that.

Love

Like I said at the beginning of this post, the definition of love is different for everybody. When I think of love, I think of care, unconditionality, affection, happiness. I also find that the emotion usually motivates or inspires you to be the best you can be for yourself and your significant other. I don't know, it's really one of those abstract things you can't really describe but rather feel(ok cliché I know).

In relation to this post, I will say this: I love Toronto's diverse streets, fashion, and taking pictures.
This look was actually inspired by a photo I saw on Tumblr a while ago. I didn't want to copy the exact outfit so I decided to make a debut with...flare pants! Honestly, I think the last time I wore this type of style was about the age of 9. I hated them before but for some reason, this is no longer the case.

The pants were paired with a grey turtleneck, patent boots and one of my favorite mini-purses by Chanel. Whilst trying out the outfit, I did find it a little too plain for my liking, so I added a wool coat to complete the look. Like I said earlier, I absolutely love Toronto's streets. It's definitely fun to plan out these shoots because you scope out possible locations and always end up finding hidden corners.

Also, overtime, I've come to realize that doing photoshoots has helped boost my confidence. Honestly haha, there was a time when I wouldn't dare pose in front of lots of people occasionally gazing at me, but I guess the creation of the blog helped with that. It's allowed me to express myself by incorporating creative direction, art and style. A few days before a shoot, I grab my notebook and write down the looks, locations and props I want to use with my poses. Of course, sometimes I switch things up a bit, like here, when I decided to pose on a pole(let's just call it that, for lack of a better word).

I also wanted to play around with the backdrops around me:

The last few shots are my favorite because of how crisp the contrast between my outfit and the bright colors in the background are. It's always lovely shooting in Toronto!