About Me

SO... WHO IS THIS GIRL

HI

I'm Avery Grainger. Ya I know, my parents should have named me Hermione.

This is who I am:

-a competitive dancer since I was 3

-cross country runner

-track and field athlete

-an aspiring actress (throwing this one in because hey I can dream about being a movie star)

-part time model

-an artist (my favourite mediums are paint, journaling, collaging or making videos) 

-a photographer (amateur one, I've been shooting film and digital since I was 13)

-a writer (although this is the first time my work is seeing the light of day outside English class in high school)

-an activist (for things that I think should be fought for!!) 

-a fashionista (this word reminds me of old school Disney channel movies- but really I love clothes, making them and wearing them) 

This is what I enjoy doing in my spare time: 

-reading 

-long boarding 

-hiking 

-skiing (downhill, cross-country skiing is a no)

-playing around with makeup and beauty products, also SKINCARE DAMN

-travelling / road-tripping 

-surfing 

-singing (I definitely suck) 

-spending time with my family and friends (often catch-up sessions over coffee or family game night)

Now that we've got the basics covered, let me tell you some more personal info.  

I'm your poster child, ocd type A personality perfectionist. I can't stop a project once I've started it and sometimes my dedication scares me. My horoscope is Cancer sun, Scorpio rising and Aquarius moon. Even if you're one of those people that says horoscopes are dumb (cause they might be,) I know we all check them still so there's mine ! I'm basically a water sign baby.

I have 2 tattoos and 6 ear piercings.

I grew up in a city called Red Deer, in the province of Alberta, Canada.

While Red Deer is definitely not a bucket list kind of city, it was really the perfect place to grow up. Just big enough to be able to drive around for hours with my friends as a teenager but just small enough that you always see a familiar face at the grocery store or know someone at the party. 

My high school was awesome. Your typical dream high school musical school but better in my opinion. I always say I peaked in high school so I guess we'll see about that.

I think the people you surround yourself with shape you, and that being said I had a big but close-knit kind of friend group. I also really made an effort to be friends with kids from all different demographics of the school. The French kids, the sporty kids, the drama kids, the leadership kids, the dash 2 kids, whatever. Although most of my closest friends were sporty because we did sports together, I was also a leadership kid and a French kid and a kid who's parents were teachers. So really, my multifaceted persona allowed me to connect with lots of my peers.

I also had my dance friends. At my prime I spent 30 hours a week at the studio and another 20 ish hours rehearsing for the Nutcracker ballet on the weekends. I saw my dance teachers more than my parents and my dance bff's more than my brother in a week, that's how close I am with these girls! Dance taught me the foundational core of what I strive to be- determined, punctual, a community member that gives back. I was always an assistant teacher to the younger girls. Realizing they look up to me is really the best feeling in the world.

I keep myself busy, like really really really busy. In high school I had 2 jobs, dance, running, track and field, leadership executive, grad executive, and like my actual classes too. Plus attempting to maintain a social life and like at least say goodnight to my family and take my dog for a walk and pet my cat. It was a lot.

I've been lucky enough to travel too.

Growing up I lived an hour and a half away from two major cities and 2 hours away from the Canadian Rocky Mountains, which in Canada terms for driving distances, is literally nothing.

Almost every weekend where I didn't have something going on with dance or school or work, I was in the mountains or the big city. We also went to Disneyland and Disneyworld quite a few times, which was always magical and something I'm grateful for. California is my second home. Since the first time I went when I was 6, I fell in love. Strolls down Melrose Ave and a day at Santa Monica is literally my ideal day. Also Urth café is not overrated, the hype is 100% worth it. Go there and thank me later.

My parents really pushed us to spend time in nature from a young age. We would spend more days camping than at home in the summertime. Some of my first memories are biking around campsites with my brother and the friends we would meet from around Canada who were also camping. We even met one of our best friends who lives at a campsite we always went to. I knew mountain air and worn down hiking boots. Freezing cold lakes and cliff jumping. Paddle boarding in clear turquoise water. Refilling our water bottles from a spring on a glacier. Kayaking. Skinned knees from crashing into trees on my roller blades. Going to amphitheatre productions and learning about wildlife. Collecting rocks even though it's technically illegal to take nature from the National Parks. Shhhh.

Then I went to England at 17, and my whole world was rocked.

I was beyond obsessed. I won't go into too much detail, but I basically lived in Belgravia in a private key holders only square, went to bars as a minor with my cousins i.d. (who I met for the first time that trip,) hit many museums and bucket list spots like Sketch, shopped till I dropped, vintage market strolled, and drank a hefty amount of tea. Since then I've been hooked on Europe, and 6 months later I moved to Paris. I've been here since besides coming home for two weeks at Christmas.

London, Nottingham, Leicester, Paris, Strasbourg, Rouen, Normandie, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Prague. The cities I've hit so far. Insane memories, new best friends from around the world, being an aupair.

And then we come to the now, which is where my first post- "Quarantine love letters" begins.

If you've stuck it out this far, thank you.

Get ready, there's lots to come. I can't wait. I have 18 years worth of harvesting stories to share.

xoxo, -Ave

All these pics are #35mm by the way because 
that's right I'm a film photography bitch

Swedish Berries tho amiright

She graduatedddd 
(low-key best day ever though, 
this was the poster they hung up in 
the lobby for my dance recital)

That's some turquoise water wowee

Tenting for May Long weekend

Roadtripping ft. my cotton candy air freshener,
DIY marble rock key chain and mom's shadow

Paddle-boarding in Fernie, British Columbia

Friends on my couch at my 18th birthday bash
 in my backyard pre someone knocking my
 mom's scentsy over and the caramel 
scented wax spilling on the couch

 From the LA archives

My 17th Birthday cake 
(seemed a fitting title;)

 Some neat nature
 (cringed writing that but keeping it)