We've booked a table at Caroline Néron's favourite Montreal restaurant. The best accessory for our night on the town in Outremont? Why, some pieces from her SS12 collection, of course.

These ultra-cute cupcake earrings ($28) are intended for children, but we can't resist their playful, whimsical nature. Hello, calorie-free treat!

As our Grand Prix weekend social calendar begins to fill up, we're on the prowl for some glam accessories and these Art Deco-esque earrings ($80) definitely fit the bill. 

And finally, because we've adopted a "the more, the merrier" mantra when it comes to arm candy, we're adding this reptilian bracelet ($80) to our roster of go-tos. 

Between airline points and discounts, access to catalogs of merchandise and experiences, and earning cash-back, choosing the perfect rewards credit card takes some research – and a little introspection.

Points junkie? You may do well with a card that allows you to earn points or miles on the purchases you make, which can be redeemed for travel, merchandise or experiences.

Or maybe you’re a more rational consumer for whom cash is king. If you prefer cold hard cash to collecting points, a cash-back card could be the right choice for you.

Unlike many rewards programs where you earn points towards travel or items in a catalogue, a cash-back card rewards you by with a cash-back percentage on all of the purchases you make on the Card, often with an accelerated earn rate for certain purchase categories.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love to travel. But for me, a cash-back card offers the ultimate freedom. I’ve been using the TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express for several months now. Between fill-ups at the gas station (up to 2% cash-back), meals out with family and friends (3% cash-back) and weekly shopping at Costco and everywhere else (up to 1% cash-back), I’m earning money back on the purchases I need to make every day. And when my rebate comes in January – just when the holiday bills are coming in – I can spend it anywhere I choose, on anything I choose. I like that flexibility.

It’s simple: Every time you use your TrueEarnings Card, you’re earning moolah for the little extras. And if you’re anything like me, a little reward goes a long way.

Excuse us while we go shopping—our piggy bank needs filling.

Apply for the TrueEarnings Card here.

I think it's pretty safe to say that I'm not the next Bill Cunningham but since I was in Paris, I couldn't resist snapping a stylish Parisian, or two.

I remember an old interview that Charlie Rose did with Joan Juliet Buck back when she was an editor of French Vogue, and her stating that "a French woman doesn't need to be told how to dress." This is true. If there was one word to describe Parisian style it would be "effortless." Or at least, they make it look easy.

From far away I thought "this could be Sofia Coppola." It wasn't, but you can't deny black on black is a winning combination. In the same aforementioned interview with Joan Juliet Buck, she explained that during her tenure with the magazine, they never featured black, because that's the first thing a French woman will buy each season -- black doesn't need advertising. 

Effortlessness most often comes with flat shoes. You won't see a Parisienne limping down a cobblestone street in 6" stilettos. The most popular shoes? Chucks!

This girl is sort of a quintessential Parisienne, a Francois Hardy type, with that long flowy hair and thick fringe. I love that she is sporting the holly grail of French style: the striped tee.

I spotted this stylish gamine a mile away. It was the red accents on her coat that gleamed colour in an otherwise very neutral style palette.

Speaking of neutral, this woman could teach a class on how to dress head-to-toe in khaki. I need these roll-y boots for next fall, and I need white jeans ASAP. (No she is not wearing a scrunchie -- it's a little scarf of some sort.)

Okay, so our helmet laws prevent us from ever looking this chic on a bike, but this may just be the most stylish city cyclist I've ever seen. Another effortless tip to take from the French? You will never see a Parisienne with a perfectly coifed head of hair. And she will never be caught wearing too much makeup.

As for the designers they wear? Well, I did run into one... Yohji Yamamoto, looking as cool as one can possibly look. Let's call it my magic Parisian moment, shall we?

It's not often that Banana Republic is awash with bright colours and print, but that is set to change when the Trina Turk collaboration launches in store this month. We sat down to chat 60's fashion, Palm Springs, and sportswear with the woman behind the eponymous Trina Turk line, and Banana Repulic's latest collaborator.

Vitamin Daily: Like many American female designers (DVF, DK) you appear to design for yourself.  Is that how you began your collection? And as you evolve and change tastes, do you find your collection evolves with you?

Trina Turk: Yes to both. I started my own collection because I was in the junior market, and I never really wore the clothes that I was creating at work. I wanted to be doing better fabrications and styles I would actually wear myself.  That was definitely one of the motivations when I started my company. However now, when I am designing the line, our business has grown, it is not only about me anymore, it is not only about what I want to wear. There is also a lot of market factors that you have to take into consideration. If there is something that I am really craving for my closet, then of course we would put that into the line, but it is not like I personally want to wear every single piece in the entire collection. A lot of it is driven by the market.

VD: The Banana Republic collection you designed is said to be inspired by the Southern California lifestyle. Do you find that your Palm Springs home (below) and surroundings are your biggest inspiration?

TT: I think that what's happened is that our company has become closely associated with Palm Springs, and it is definitely our inspiration; however, it's not the only inspiration. There are a lot of things about South California that are inspiring, mainly that there's so much going on in Los Angeles. There are so many museums and galleries, new restaurants, new stores, and I am inspired by all of the above. I guess the other thing is that is really important about LA is the climate and the variety of landscape and the architecture. I am really interested in modernist architecture, kind of as a hobby, and that's part of what the draw is to Palm Springs, but there is also a lot of cool modern architecture in Los Angeles.

VD: Your blog featured some images of Rudi Gernreich's work and his muse, Peggy Moffit (above.) It looks like that's an aesthetic you are inspired by, is it a reference point you find yourself going back to?

TT: The important thing about Rudi Gernreich is that he was introducing something that was really unconstructed, at a time when that was new. His clothes didn't have a lot of inner linings and structure built into them. They were very easy and introduced a different sort of type of clothing. The other thing I love about Rudi is that he was based in LA, like I am, and he was always based in LA, and he never moved to New York. LA was integral to what he was doing. It is also partly the era he was working in, the mid to late sixties and the early 70s, those are the eras that I gravitate towards.

VD: Any other vintage American designers you turn to for inspiration from that era? Or international ones?

TT: I love Pauline Trigère, she was an American designer working in the 50s and 60s. Bonnie Cashin, another American designer, they were sportswear designers, it wasn't about red carpet or gowns, they were designing clothes that women could wear every day. The designer that really started American sportswear in the 40's, Claire McCardell, her stuff is amazing and introduced a much more simple way of dressing, which for women, was pretty liberating at the time. And of course Halston, I can't really leave him off the list.

VD: What is your personal favourite piece from the Banana Republic collection?

TT: The whole collection revolves around 5 prints from the Trina Turk archive, and so the prints are the very important to the look of the whole collection. The pieces that are my favourite are the ones that are printed. The printed short in the crazy multicoloured botanical print that represents undersea print. We also did it in a brimmed hat, and those are two of my favourites. (See above.)
 

Last week we previewed Lifetime Collective's fall winter 2012 collection, featuring a tight selection of clothing that was discreetly cool and undeniably effortless. After a brief chat with the founders, Reid Stewart and Trevor Fleming (below), we discovered that Lifetime Collective was born simply as Collective, and began as a small group of friends who decided to start 'something.'

Ten years later, they've continued to collaborate with friends and the result is a brand that not only creates great clothing, but great clothing that is interesting, too. Here are a few of our favourite pieces from FW12.

The knit varsity jacket is a very cool take on a high school classic.

We are sort of obssessed with the idea of skinny overalls.

This fleecy sweatshirt's colours are tacky-cool.

We love this slouchy winter jacket with trench details.

There was a lot of good things to choose from, and that gives us something to look forward to in the fall.

www.lifetimecollective.com/

You are probably asking yourself, who is Tom Mora and Frank Muytjens? I'll give you a hint... they are designers... for a brand... think preppy, American, and cool glasses. Yes, they are the head of womenswear and head of menswear (respectively) at J Crew, and they sat down with yours truly for a short chat the day before the store's Vancouver grand opening.

We also asked Tom to put together an outfit for a Vancouver girl, who likes to be stylish, but practical, and lives in a mild, rainy city (don't we ever...) Here's what he put together for us: a chambray denim shirt, buttoned all the way up, worn with a skinny mint slim cut jean, a matching cashmere cardigan, and this water-resistant waxed jacket. Accessorize with a dark coloured shoe, and voila! A J Crew ensemble for the Vancouver girl. See images below.

Vitamin Daily: There have obviously been some big changes to J Crew in the past few years, and most credit Jenna Lyons and Mickey Drexler. At your level, what were some of the big changes that took place?

Tom Mora: It was an interesting time, Mickey loved J Crew as a brand and what it stood for. We had gone a little off course, and what Mickey wanted to do was rediscover what J Crew was. The challenge was to go back, look at the fabrics, work with the best mills, use the best cashmere, look at the detailing, look at the fit, look at all the things that seem to have gone by the wayside. It was an eye opener, and within one or two seasons we had got back the real feeling of old J Crew. That was the starting point, and then people started talking about J Crew.

Frank Muytjens: Mickey made it ok to be design driven but still make sure we have a basic foundation and build upon that.

VD: It is interesting that Mickey came in from the outside but he has still maintained all the other people from the team. Normally they bring in a lot of fresh blood, when a company goes through a revamp of that sort.

TM: There were people that left, but for the most part, I think he knew there was something there, it was a matter of really refining it and getting back some of our old identity. It was nerve racking having someone of his caliber coming in and shaping things up like he did. But it was fantastic, it was an awakening, like someone took the blinders off. All of a sudden, we were flooded with good ideas and excitement.

VD: Do you ever feel limited by the fact that you need to design for what is considered a fairly classic, commercial company.

TM: We really can try anything we want. The great thing is when you have someone like Mickey, who really has faith in the team, he allows you to create, and that is the beautiful part about what we do, we are given a lot of freedom. We are both very conscious of our business and what we have to accomplish, but aside from that, we are allowed to create really truly beautiful, special products. Mickey loves the idea of having things that are special and limited. He loves having that collection-y feel to the product, and it also allows us to do the hi-lo thing where we are doing really gorgeous expensive pieces mixed in with our chinos and our t-shirts and our denim. Every time mens and womens come up with a new idea, it is really embraced. Of course cost becomes a factor, but we figure it out, either as a very limited edition, or if it is so amazing, we make it a bigger idea and we need to do two versions, the over top luxury version and the accessible version.

FM: We really only scratch the surface. There is so much we can do. And we can move very quick, there is no middleman, we have our own stores. It is such an emotional kind of business, it is great to be in that kind of situation.

VD: Vancouver was recently voted one of the worst dressed cities in the world, because lots of girls wear yoga pants. What would you say to those Vancouver girls, to get them out of the yoga pants?

TM: People wear yoga pants to be comfortable, but there are a lot of other ways to be comfortable.. Comfort can mean a lot of things, step outside of the box, you can get comfort in trousers or jeans.

VD: Lastly, does everyone at J Crew wear amazing glasses, and do you think I can get a job based on mine? (See above. Frank is to the left, and Tom is to the right. We weare all styling some specular specs. Although it is a shame I didn't open my eyes for the photo.)

FM: Yours are great.

TM: We are actually wearing the exact same glasses.

FM: It is such a great frame.

TM: Jenna has these as well. But she doesn't wear them as much.

I think I'm sending them my resume... sounds like a great place to work.

Check out the new J Crew store in Vancouver: 1088 Robson Street, 604-684-236.

Treating yourself to that "love-of-your-life" Marc Jacobs purse might not be the best thing for your bank account (don't worry, we've all been there). How can you be smart with your money but also allow yourself a few splurges now and again? A girl's gotta shop, right?

Bring on the budget

A little savings can go a long way, and who doesn't need a bit of a cushion for unexpected expenses (like your car breaking down or dropping your cellphone in your vanilla latte!). You need to be prepared for those unforeseen (and generally not fun!) surprises. Tally up all your monthly bills, see what you spend in a month and create a realistic budget that you can stick to. 

Pick up some points 

If you shop at the same stores a lot, it might be worth opting into retail loyalty programs. Research the programs available at places where you spend the most: the grocery store, the pharmacy or your favourite coffee shop. This way you can pick up the necessities (milk, eggs…mascara) and earn rewards like gifts or even cash towards your next purchase. For example, if you shop at Costco and have an Executive Membership, you can receive an annual certificate worth up to two per cent of the money you spent stocking up at Costco, which can be used towards future purchases. With loyalty programs, each time you spend you get a little bit in return.

Choose a cash back Card

By pairing a retail card and a credit card that earns you cash back while you shop, you can maximize your ROI on the money you spend at your favourite stores. The TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express has you covered with some great benefits: up to two per cent cash back on eligible gas purchases, three per cent cash back on restaurant purchases, and up to one per cent cash back on purchases everywhere else, including Costco. A credit card with a built-in savings plan - perfect. So, since you'll be earning cash back at the next girls' night out, the drinks can be on you! 

Here's a shocker: the desert is hot. Funnily enough, so are the looks I spotted on some of Coachella's most stylish attendees.

Canada's favourite TV personality (and one of my besties) Jessi Cruickshank went Coachella cool in faded denim, a cropped tank and cat-eye sunnies.

With its crochet overlay, this dress is white hot. Especially when roughed up with a studded leather belt.

Neon. Need I say more? You have to compete with the blazing sun somehow.

Florals. So pretty on a sun dress, no?

Stripes. I saw them in just about every variation -- vertical, horizontal, wide, narrow, you name it.

Notice how every one of these ladies is wearing boots?

Me? I played it preppy in a tangerine sweater and cobalt jeans. All the better to coordinate with the world's best concert tee, my dear.

We love to hear from our readers: you always have smart things to say.

Here's a chance for you to tell us all about what you love, what you loathe‚ and your secret favourite shopping spots.

So instead of pretending to work, take our annual subscribers survey! Spill it: do you prefer Whistler or Palm Springs? Boutiques or shopping centres? Twitter or Pinterest? Inquiring minds want to know!

Be sure to enter your email address at the end of the 10-minute survey—five lucky respondents will win a $100 gift card to Banana Republic.

So hop to it, there's a survey spot with your name on it!

Take our 2012 subscribers survey here.

Our whirlwind New York tour (is there any other kind)? began at the Gansevoort Park hotel. Early for check-in, we headed straight up to the rooftop which had an oddly appropriate mosaic message in the pool:

Joe Fresh sponsored “The Ungovernables,” an exhibit of emerging international artists, at The New Museum (until April 22) which included this flying carpet-like installation “Prayway,” as well as more traditional paintings made with tea, graphite and ink.

After our cultural excursion, the Canadian press lunched at Momofuku Ssam, where this pork butt roast, shredded with tongs and eaten in a lettuce wrap, was a highlight of the epic tasting menu.

After the Joe Fresh party on Fifth Ave, it was home to sleep, then back to the store on opening day for a shopping trip. Long sleeved silk shirts, peg leg jeans, and these bright trenches were top of the list.

And, finally, my interview with Joe Mimran himself, who chatted freely about the challenges of getting back the Bertoia screen sculpture (pictured behind us) from previous tenant Chase Bank, who had dismantled and packed up all 6 tonnes of it. After his architects built a replica of the screen, the original was finally repatriated to the building (um, that sounds expensive) during a 12-month renovation of the building that involved moving escalators and refurbishing everything from the floors to the ceiling to its original 1952 glory.