when all you need is to be you.

i've been feeling a bit like figuring out how to be 'me' lately, is becoming a primary motive. when moving across the country, it's easy to lose a sense of who you are, as you leave everything you've used to identify yourself behind. when i came upon this video, done by one of my favourite internet 'people' (what on EARTH do you call people who are just professionals at interneting??), it said what needed to be said.

we all just need to be a little more... us. 

check out more zefrank on his website.

on knitted hats and lofty goals

when i set a goal for myself, i set it in the way i was taught in my masters degree: make it measurable, attainable, and most seriously - make it realistic. that's why when i set goals, they sound a little bit like, 'make sure you do your dishes tonight... or by thursday at the LATEST'.... or 'make sure you still have a $20 bill in your wallet by tomorrow'. i'm very serious about these goals, but rarely do i reach them.
enter robyn, who takes goals very seriously. none of this 'just make sure you eat for the next 3 days' goal setting... she created a list of goals, that she wanted to complete before she turned 40 - and, set out to make 10,000 hats for 10,000 people. she started small - with 100 hats in 2009. now, it's 300 hats in 2013. she's sending hats all over the place, just to complete her measurable goal. one she is determined to complete. and man - she's going to kick it into the ground.
the connection that i have with robyn? i'm a giant online click'a'holic... i start in one place online, and next thing you know, i'm halfway across the internet, on a person's page who i used to go to highschool with. people often interrupt my 'i found this thing online' stories with, 'wait.... HOW did you find that??'
so. here's what happened: i was reading sydney's blog, and in catching up, saw her post on her connection with robyn, from she makes hats. i then spent the next hour reading robyn's blog - her goals, her posts on her designs, and what the project meant to her.

the arrival of my hat

you can imagine my surprise when i received an email from robyn, asking if she could send me a hat. me. a hat. i could not hit reply fast enough. handmade hats are my 'swoonworthy' thing. knitting is something i've never been able to fully master, and my jaw drops at the things people can do with needles and yarn.
so, yes. i said yes so quickly, my internet connection could not keep up.

and a little while later, i received my hat. it is warm, and a colour that goes with everything, but is way less boring than my typical grey. it's slouchy, and perfect. and - as you can see from photos - since i am from canada, i can never ever ever own too many hats. since i lost my last knit hat about a year ago (and have been unable to find one that has come even CLOSE to replacing it), i've been without. it would be far too small of a thing to say that this hat serves as a good replacement for that hat - this one would beat that one in a 100m race.  

i know. i know. just a hat. get over it. 

i won't. i won't get over it. while we're all reading blogs, listening to songza, drinking green tea, and trying to get our acts together, robyn has been whipping out hats for babies in maternity wards, hats for active-duty naval sailors, and hats for people like me (who, relatively, have no good place in her repertoire of hat making). 

robyn is part of an organization called nebraska hats for hope. she knits hats to include in bags that are put together in backpacks with food and other warm things, for children from the local elementary school - a large portion of whom receive some form of public assistance (in the manner of free lunches, and so on). so now, instead of store bought hats, robyn has set out to ensure all those deserving kidlets receive hand knit hats. and here's the key component: we can be involved. if you would like to send robyn hats, to be included in this amazing and inspiring initiative, please send them to: 

Nebraska Hats for Hope Initiative

PO Box 6093

Omaha, NE 68106

i just started knitting again. it's taken me a month to make a headband. but this year, my (realistic) challenge will be to send robyn at least 3 hats. please join me. 

and totally off topic, for those of you who were wondering, the following is the reason i will never ever be a fashion blogger. as soon as there is a camera in front of my face, it inexplicable contorts in ways that i can't control, and leaves me with hundreds of photos that look like this:

i'll leave it at that.

oh! i should also add, that robyn has included instructions on how to knit this hat, on her website. it's based on this hat, but she has altered it... so you can see her changes for the final product here. for those of you WAY more talented with needles than i, check it out! we can match! she also wrote a sweet blog entry about the hat, the process, and what number my hat is (#310) in her grand goal.... check it out here!

you can follow robyn's adventure on twitter, instagram, pinterest (because who doesn't love a good perusal of pinterst?), her website, and even buy some of these hats on her etsy shop.

hiotis style

i know a guy named nick. and nick helped out with the ladies learning code photoshop workshop that i took. nick thought that my co-jamie and i were the bestest photoshop students he had ever seen (he's not biased - we were pretty outright good).
and then, nick and i stayed in touch over twitter. he likely shook his head at my tweets, and i often viewed photos of his perfect kicks, and we dabbled in men's fashion criticism even.
and now, nick has developed (with his brothers) a solid foundation of a streetwear clothing line. mixing talents between all of them (which i assume includes gourmet food at their launch events - hunh nick? hint hint) they've gathered some followers starting from a small group of friends, leading to a solid base of those who want what they have to offer. 
LUCKILY (for you! but mostly for me), i have an in. nick (kind of) likes me, and was willing to do a quasi interview... 

jamie - so. a couple of questions - if you have a second! first... the administrative: who is 'hiotis', what talent and training do you guys come from, where the heck do you guys design out of? 

nick - Hiotis is a lifestyle and streetwear brand headed by myself and my younger brothers. Our backgrounds are all over the place! We are in design, international business, marketing and sales. One of us also happens to be a chef and specializes in french cuisine - This has proven to be clutch.

Though I am based out of Toronto, Hiotis definitely has a strong point in Ottawa. This is where we are from and where most of our followers happen to be located.

the beginnings of the hiotis brand

j - what first started you on your creative journey - were you an artistic child, or did it come from a want for unique things? did it start in clothing, or in another medium?

n - My medium of choice has always been Web and Mobile platforms. I'm very much a "digital" designer. Funny enough, clothing might have been one of the things I cared least about for most of my life. 

As a child I would spend whole afternoons sketching cartoon characters and action figures I owned. I loved to draw! Once I got my first computer I immediately developed an interest for Web/Graphic Design. At the age of 13 I discovered I could actually get paid to design and started freelancing for local businesses. I still remember being offered my first paid contract. It was surreal. I totally remember blowing all of that money on candy with my brothers immediately after...

tshirt designs - the basics

j - how did hiotis as a brand start?

n - Hiotis, though a very new brand, developed itself over quite a long period of time. For the longest time I had a very passive appreciation for streetwear. So passive in fact that I'm fairly sure even my closest friends had no idea I followed it. I had learned to study and appreciate it from the sidelines. And I was happy doing this for quite some time. I never really fit in with the streetwear/fashion crowd anyway (I'm really not that cool). It wasn't until recently that I decided to take a more active approach towards my appreciation for streetwear and use clothing as another medium for which I could explore and learn about. 

It's one thing to consume things you're interested in. It's another thing to produce.

I decided during the summer of 2012 that I was going to approach [Hiotis] as a side project. The goal of the project was simple: Produce a single t-shirt I could wear by the time the summer was over. The real goal of the project was, and still is, to learn more about the process of creating a real physical product from start to finish, through the medium of clothing. Though I followed streetwear, I knew absolutely nothing about the process and the steps it takes to produce something myself. By the end of the summer I had accomplished my goal. However, rather than producing 1 t-shirt I had designed 4 and produced 15 t-shirts from each design. Somewhat by accident, I had generated a lot of interest from friends. Eventually I had made the decision to sell all sixty shirts. And from that point on Hiotis as a brand, and as a business, had kicked off.

I was also incredibly fortunate enough to involve my two younger brothers in this project. 

the men in charge - sorry nick, i had to. (from nick's instagram)

It is just as much their project as it is mine at this point. Leveraging our different specialities has proven to yield amazing results. Family is everything to me and ultimately this is what makes Hiotis. 

"Brothers Over Business" isn't just a slogan we use, it is the cornerstone of what our brand represents. It is what makes us unique and truly authentic to both ourselves and our followers. 

'live fast, die you' (my fave slogan from hiotis)

j - can you give us an idea of 'a day in the life' now that you have hiotis on the go?

n - Hiotis remains, for the time being, a side project. I do work full-time for a design agency in Toronto. As such I manage all Hiotis related work in the nights I'm free! I'll admit it does get crazy sometimes, as I feel like once again I'm living two completely different lives. However I strongly believe approaching Hiotis as a side project has really benefited both myself and the people I'm collaborating with. I spend my days and nights working on creative problems for completely different mediums. Keeps things fresh! 

And really at the end of the day, there really is no goal other than to learn, have fun and creating something dope. 

I am fortunate enough to not have to worry about money so there's really no pressure on myself, or the people willing to collaborate with me, to push out anything in order to make a quick buck. Money is no object in this project. 

j - what can we expect from hiotis in the future - both near and further away?

n - I feel like Hiotis, as a business, has hit a really sweet spot. It's now completely funded on itself while also being new enough to not be under any real pressure. Hiotis is definitely the "underdog" right now. I like that! I feel like there's really nothing we can do wrong at this point, so it's worth exploring anything we feel like. The only people we need to impress at this point is ourselves.

As an immediate goal we are working to get a proper website/shop set up for October 31st. We are also currently working to release a Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Afterwards, who knows! I am very excited to see how this project continues to evolve.

hiotis tags, ready for clothes

j - what are your personal styles? how did this influence hiotis?

n - Though I can't speak for my brothers on this one, I would say my personal style is more casual professional. I'm definitely a sucker for nice sweaters, dress shirts and sperry's. Don't hate. I like to look nice when I can! My own personal style doesn't really influence Hiotis.

Hiotis is more or less influenced from our interests rather than our personal styles. Elements of skateboarding, hiphop, youth and all the other things that come with this (I'll keep it clean here!). This keeps what we push out authentic to us. Where I would say my personal style intersects with what Hiotis represents, is that I do want people to feel like they look nice! I want Hiotis to feel like a higher brand of streetwear. 

j - and finally... just because it's my blog, and i'm nosy! what is your favourite..... drink. food. place to eat in TO. fae music. and of course, fave place to go out in the city?

n - Coffee. A good steak. Guu. Hiphop. The dog park, with my french bulldog Russell. Hah!

i adore nick. he makes me laugh, and his integrity and thought process in regards to what he puts out under his name is admirable. there aren't enough people who care about the process from start to finish anymore - with DIY, pinterest, etc. sometimes we lose a lot of what makes small ventures good. the heart. the design. the creativity. the learning. and the authenticity.

you can find some of the fine hiotis men's thought process here. you can follow them on twitter here. OR follow nick here. and dudes - hiotis is going to be holding a very limited preview sale of their S/S 2013 shirts, October 31st at www.hiotis.com. do. not. miss. out.

standing still // moving quickly

not much to say today.... sorry friends. it's been a long 2 weeks, 1 week, weekend, coupla days. however, one of my fave writers on the net wrote something amazing, that i want to share. it really resonates with me as i go through this weird/awesome/awkward/unsure/open ended time in my life (do 'times in our lives' ever end?? do we ever just get to BE??!), and i read it and re-read it lotsa times. 
i think you'll dig it. it means something to everyone. even if you're the opposite of a person who stays in one place. 

VANCOUVER (photo by me from my vancouver vacation - on pinterest)

bart schaneman on staying in one place.

a few moments that settled more deeply with me in the essay....

"Every time I quit it wasn’t because I was bored or couldn’t do the work, but because I felt like I had been there long enough and I needed to experience more life, more places, and learn more about people. 

....Of course, this goes against the advice of all the Bohemian and Beatnik writers and countless other artists who proselytize life in motion. There comes a time when you’re either traveling to gain experience or you’re running away when things get hard. I want to stay and fight. I want to fight my restlessness. I want to fight the impulse to drain my bank account as soon as it gets full enough. I want to build something here.

The idea of this isn’t romantic, I know that. It’s not riding the rails or living down and out or scraping by for your art. There’s no great adventure in signing on for another year. But my heroes have changed. Now I’m shooting for Carver and Bellow, maybe even Faulkner or McCarthy. As much as I loved Kerouac and Bukowski as a young man, I’m moving on. I’ve written those books. It’s time to aim at different targets.

...I can’t say this is my proper place, where I should be for the rest of my life. I have no intention of calling that shot. I’ll fight to make it work for as long as I can and if that doesn’t work I’ll make a change. But at least this time I’m not looking for another place to save me. Places never do."

TORONTO (photo by jeff kalman - on pinterest)

i have to say, i'm still a person who seeks adventure, and wants to move.... constantly. maybe partially it's the ADHD, but i can confidently say it's mostly a longing for what else is out there. what have i missed? where else can i start fresh, and learn to love? so maybe one place isn't yet for me. maybe one place isn't about growing up, but instead becoming sure about you, and what is best/good/the right thing for you. that's what i like about this piece.... the exploration of doing what feels right. whether it's staying in one place, or jumping on a plane. 

thanks bart, for exploring.

oh you fancy, hunh?

oh! and here's an added bonus. i'm a guest person of interest in natalie's blog today. here. talking about my outfit choices, and how long it takes me to pick them, as well as my shopping mecca's of choice (namely, the sweet luxurious area of the dufferin mall - according to the website, it's 'the savvy shopper's fashion destination'). you can read more here. and look at me making my gangster face, without even realizing it (yes, i literally DO make that face unintentionally all the time).

oh. and read her blog. you'll love it. she's hilarious.

thanks for having me natalie!