PICK OF THE WEEK: PINTEREST

We, like most of you, are not immune to the occasional lull during the work day.  But, instead of twiddling our thumbs and playing fetch with our pal Carter, we`ve decided to work on keeping you entertained during the lulls in your work day. We recently created our very own Pinterest  boards for you to look at when you`re bored.

Here, we show you where we get our inspiration from, as well as stuff that we just think is cool and interesting. You`ll find food, travel, gadgets, and of course, things of the sartorial variety—all things that make up a Simon Carter man. 

It took us a moment to figure out what all of the fuss was about, but once we got started, we became slightly addicted to pinning. We suggest that you get on board (Oh, unintentional jokes), but approach with caution, because a lull only lasts for a moment, and you may lose track of time when you`re on pinterest. Stay diligent, friends, and avoid getting stuck in the pinterest vortex—all of our boards will still be there when you get back.

Be sure to have a look, as we will be pinning away. Check us out HERE, and be sure to follow us!  

THIS JUST IN: SHOES

 We've got some new styles and colours, and we think you should stop by the shop and check it out!

LOOK OF THE DAY

Tabbed-collars add interesting detail, and keeps your tie in place so you look perfectly polished all day.

THIS JUST IN: CUFFLINKS

FEATURED IN: TORONTO LIFE

Toronto Life recently showcased some of the most stylish shopkeepers on Queen Street West, and our very own dapper gent, Kane, was featured! He was even noted as a favourite among the shopkeepers photographed, because of his " purple blazer with a patterned shirt and pocket square."

We've always been a fan of mixing patterns and colours, so it was certainly nice to get a bit of a nod in that department. It was also really great to be featured by Toronto Life, so a big thanks to them!

PICK OF THE WEEK: THIS WILD IDEA

We here at Simon Carter love a good story of a man and his canine pal just as much, if not more, than a well-tailored suit. Well, maybe we love them both equally.

All photos, via Instagram.

This week, we stumbled across one of the most entertaining and adorable instagram accounts we think we've ever seen: thiswildidea. It's essentially a photographic diary about Theron Humphrey and his wonderful dog, Maddie, who he rescued from an animal shelter in Altanta, Georgia. They travel around together, documenting their adventures, which lead to a series of photos called Maddie on Things.

Maddie on Things has since become a book, and even an iPhone app, where you can place Maddie on things that you photograph!

As well as being a message that if we can, we should adopt pets and take them into our loving homes, we think that Maddie on Things is a great reminder of all the fun times our pups bring to our lives. We think we might give our buddy Carter and extra treat or two today, just to show him we care.

LOOK OF THE DAY

THIS JUST IN: SUITS

They're here! They're here! New suits have landed at the shop and we think you NEED to come have a look!

Great colours and details like these deserve to be seen in person, so come on by!

AND THE WINNER IS...

*DRUMROLL*

J DESJARDINS! You've won yourself a match-y-match-y, but not corny match-y, skull pendant and cufflinks!

Thank you all for taking time out to enter our draw. Please keep checking out our blog for more entertaining distractions from work and keep your eyes open for our next giveaway! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

GQ recently published "The 5 most annoying people on Valentine's day," and while we're usually all about the love— especially in a few hours when we announce the winner of our Valentine's day giveaway (That you still have time to enter. HERE. So do it now!)— we just had to add our two cents and add a few of our own to GQs list.

1. Ron and Sammi: A reality television couple from a little-known programme called, Jersey Shore. We realize that we shouldn't have ever even seen enough of it to be able to recognize the shows "stars" by name, but in our defense, everyone has their vices, and OCCASIONALLY watching reality television is ours. But we digress, so let's get back to the topic at hand. These two bother us because of their on-again/off-again drama-filled relationship. The drama gets to be too much sometimes that we almost (almost) want to change the channel, but like seeing a train-wreck on the road, we just can't help but watch.

Image via Google images.

We aren't certain if the copious amounts of spray tan have affected Ron and Sammi's ability to make good life choices, but we think that perhaps their shared love of alcohol and yelling do, in fact, make them the perfect pair— if only for each other. 

2. The "Anti-Valentine's day" people: Love is love is love, and while you may not be in it right now, try not to spoil it for the folks who ARE.

3. The people who are ALL ABOUT Valentine's day: Love is love is love, and while you may be in it right now, try not to rub it in for the folks who AREN'T. Be kind. It is Valentine's day after all.

In any case, no matter how annoying people can get today, and whether you're in a relationship or not, we think that Valentine's day might just be a good day to be extra nice to, well, everyone. Perhaps spread the love by not being a grump or parading around with PDA? Whatever you do, we hope you have a great day! 

**Stay tuned when we announce the winner of our giveaway this afternoon!

PICK OF THE WEEK

If it wasn't already obvious, we here at Simon Carter are big fans of the James Bond franchise [*Please refer to THIS earlier blog post]. We love the action, the martinis, the girls, the cars, and obviously, Bond's impeccable wardrobe. If you've lived in a remote island for the last few decades and haven't seen any of the films, or if you just don't like the Bond movies (although we think that between these two hypothetical scenarios, the former is a more believable reason for not having seen any of the 007 films) we can understand why you may not have seen the latest one in theatres. However, now that the movie is on DVD/Blu-ray/digital copy, we REALLY think you should go see it. And if you didn't like it before, we're almost certain you'll change your mind after watching it.

image via uncrate.com

We also think that it would make a great Valentine's day gift. Might we suggest a James-Bond-movie-and-a-home-cooked-dinner date night (**in addition to the awesome accessories you could win if you enter our Valentine's day contest)?

**With the obvious, shameless self-promotion aside— we really do think you should enter our contest: it's easy, AND since you won't have to spend money on a Valentine's day gift if you win, you can take the money you saved and buy yourself some cool 007 gadgets!

LOOK OF THE DAY

This week, we're going a bit 'wild' by trying something sort of monochromatic, with a pretty literal take on animal print.

Adding stripes to an outfit can make a bold statement, and so can an animal print. Wearing both at the same time is usually a risk left to the sartorially adventurous— but this is Simon Carter, where 'sartorially adventurous' is our middle name. (We don't blame our parents for our strange middle names. In fact, we applaud their name-generating creativity.) We do realize, though, that not everyone is willing to wear stripes and animal prints together, so we thought we'd keep it subtle by adding a small print of a stripe-y animal to a shirt! Clever, we know. Thank you for noticing.

'TIL DEATH DO US PART

Not sure what to get your lovely lady or handsome fella? Want something for yourself to wear on your hot date this Valentine's day?

Contest is for residents of Canada. (Sorry international friends!)

A matching skull pendant and cufflinks are a subtle way to be match-y-match-y, but without the cheesy, "we-like-to-wear-matching-unisex-tracksuits" element.

Just like us on FACEBOOK and leave a comment on this blog post. That's all you need to do. THAT'S IT!

The contest closes on February 13th, and we'll announce the winner on Facebook and the blog on Thursday, February 14th so you can claim your prize!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!!

ONE!

You may be thinking that you've seen these photos before, and that's because you have. We're recapping the last year in photos because it's been a whole year since we started blogging and bringing our favourite things to your computer screens!

Actually, it's been just a little over a year, but we happened to miss the date. What can we say? We've been busy. Despite our apparent inability to keep track of the days of the week, we still thought we ought to celebrate our wee blog's first birthday with you! Enjoy!

Oh, and does anyone remember this video?

Thanks for giving the blog a read, folks! Here's to another year!