*YAWN* What a night! I’m pretty sleepy today but it was worth it! Last night was amazing!
My friend Melissa and I started the night in Yorkville at The Shops at Hazelton Lanes for the FNO Shopping Soiree and while there, I met one of my fashion idols – Jeanne Beker! That’s one off my bucket list! This event was hosted by TFI, TNT Fashion and MasterCard Canada and featured approx. 20 local designers, live music, delicious cocktails and free hair and makeup touch ups!
From there, we popped in to see my friends at Homegrown Boutique where we enjoyed freshly popped popcorn, yummy candies and mingling with some of my favourite local fashion peeps, including designer Emily Woudenberg. I purchase my first helloberry bracelet there too! Love it…can’t believe gimp is making a comeback!
The last stop in Yorkville, was the Holt Renfrew Hot in the City Street Party. It was pretty amazing to see this typically traffic heavy section of Bloor Street shut down for this event – tons of people in the street, fashion videos projected on the building, loud music and free limited edition Holt 175 (Birthday) Coca Cola!
We hopped on the subway and went downtown where our first stop was the eLUXE FNO party at their headquarters on Adelaide. This was a great stop to party and mingle but not so much for shopping. While there was a serious lack of eLUXE goodies, they did have FNO swag and some incredible (yet pricey) jewellery for sale by Rebekah Price. I loved the Photostar booth, the Avion Tequila cocktails, 3 incredible DJ sets and most of all…the chocolate dipped EVERYTHING bar! I am officially addicted to chocolate dipped licorice…thank you eLUXE 
After prying ourselves away from the candy table, we hit up Queen West for The Bazaar by Rac Boutique at the historic and beautiful Burroughs Mansion. It was by far the busiest event we’d seen all night and for good reason – dozens of incredible local brands and designers were there with their latest collections as well as discounted past collections. Guests enjoyed complimentary cocktails, beer and more great music.
We also stopped in to REmix Clothing next door where they were hosting another pop-up shop with Sauvage, The Store on Queen, Myles Sexton and others. It was lovely seeing Myles again and he completely flattered me when he said that the dainty variation on his spiked leather rings (smaller stud) reminded him of me! I just had to get one – you’re amazing Myles! Queen West is where it’s at!
Check out my entire FNO Toronto experience from start to finish on Storify and don’t forget to check out FNO Live to see how FNO went down all over the world!
4.5 hours into FNO, we had aching feet, a pretty nice cocktail buzz and a bit of a sugar high too! Perfect timing to head over to our final stop – the Nikki Beach Toronto lounge at The Spoke Club for the TIFF Opening Night Party! For years I’ve enjoyed the buzz around the pop-up Nikki Beach rooftop lounges during TIFF, but last night was my first time experiencing it and HOLY WOW it was crazy! Not gonna lie, I felt pretty special bypassing the line outside to get in – thank you Milka Mili!
Once we got upstairs to The Spoke Club on the 4th floor there was an uncomfortable traffic jam waiting to get to the rooftop, but while we were waiting, Christina Hendricks of Mad Men squeezed by me and smiled! She’s incredibly beautiful and wore her signature red lipstick with a black pant suit. Upstairs at the wood and white decorated Nikki Beach Lounge, we sipped cocktails and rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous – literally – it was so jammed in there! Can’t say I loved the cigarette smoke and felt a little claustrophobic at times, but the music was great and it was fun to experience such a high profile event.
Whew! What a night! I crashed pretty hard when I got home and tonight we’re doing it all over again at Nyood Bar! I’m hosting the event tonight with handbag designer Sneha Varma and I hope to see you there! Click HERE for more information and come out early to avoid lineups – Doors open at 10:30pm.
Such a great month of fashion, film and fun in Toronto!
Melanie Cruickshank, Founder and Creator of