Merry Listmas from Intern Krista!

Krista: Hi friends! It has been an amazing year, one that has been so overstuffed with goodness, I have to wonder if it’s fair that I should ask for more. I don’t need much of anything, but that won’t stop me from asking for a bunch of things so improbable, so impractical, that their only potential home is on a list of absurd holiday wishes for my awesome ladyboss friends at FPQT.

A llamacorn and/or a steenbok

When L-A sent me a link about something called a “llamacorn,” I thought two things:

A)     I don’t know why this is a thing

B)     I want one

That internet has done right by putting my long-standing love of llamas and my internet-renowned expertise in unicorns together into one mythical creater, the llamacorn. Gimme.

Ok, if I can’t have a mythical creature, I’ll request a real one. I was in South Africa a couple of months ago and fell in love with a tiny antelope called a steenbok. It’s the size of a large domestic cat, and I think it would be fun to have a little steenbok curled up by the fire on a dog bed, going for walks in the forest, or riding shotgun while we go on adventures.

A day as Solange

To clarify, I don’t want to spend any day as Solange, I want to fund a scientist to perfect travel across time and space, and then I want to be Solange when she shot the video for “Losing You.” Filmed in Cape Town’s townships, it features real things from township life – like minibus taxis and shops in shipping containers – and mixes it with serious style and a really sweet jam. Township life isn’t as idyllic as portrayed in the video, but it is an essential part of the past, present and future in South African cities like Cape Town. Watching it back home in Canada makes me long to visit South Africa again, I probably should have just put that on the list instead.

 

A Roaring Twenties-themed wedding in Paris

I’ve never been particularly motivated to settle down and get married, but my mind could be changed if you dangle this Gatsby-Roaring Twenties wedding in front of me. I’ll snap it up faster than you can “inspiration board.” This post by Paris-based event planner Kim Petyt is amazing on so many levels, I can’t even begin to count them. Go look at it, then come back and we’ll discuss.

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A trip to London to see Viva Forever

To the uninitiated, Viva Forever is a new musical that just opened in London based on the music of the Spice Girls. To clarify, it’s a Spice Girls musical the same way Mamma Mia is an Abba musical. Intern Krista Trivia: I love a spectacle, which is why I went to see the Spice Girls on their reunion tour. I’m including this picture from their Montreal concert only because Victoria Beckham is smiling and I know she would positively hate it.

Back to Viva Forever: Spice Girls tunes + a musical by Absolutely Fabulous’ Jennifer Saunders? I’m there.

A vintage Louis Vuitton steamer trunk

I spent some time in Paris this year, I saw an incredible display at la Musée des arts décoratifs about Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs. For the first time, I also went to the famed Paris puces at Saint Ouen, one of several places around the city to hunt for treasure among antique dealers, second-hand sellers and resellers of vintage fashion. In some ways, it is paradise. I encountered last season’s Prada, Chanel suits from the 1960s and mountains of Louis Vuitton luggage. There is a very robust market for vintage LV, particularly custom-made trunks and other finery. If you have €10,000 you’d like to spend, this one could be yours.

Seriously, the Paris Puces are a fashion lover’s dream, I learned that the hard way. Shameless plug!

A New Year’s wish for FPQT readers

Travel is my passion and I believe seeing the world changes your life in unimaginable ways. My wish for all of you in the year ahead is to experience something unexpected and incredible. This could be stepping out of your comfort zone in your hometown or flyting to the other side of the world. With this wish comes a challenge. If you get the opportunity to see or do something in 2013 you’ve never done before, say yes.