Modern fairytale? I think not.

Once upon a time, a girl I grew up with, and a boy the Dude grew up with, met, fell in love, and became engaged. It was like a modern fairy tale- she, just out of a long, hard relationship with a boy who cheated on her, abused her, and ultimately left her for the younger, skinnier variety of girl, was swept up in her vulnerable state by the sweet, hard-working man she'd previously only considered to be a friend...

... then today after the Dude and I waddled home (after a delightful and excessive perch dinner!), Mother Dude descended on us: "Have you heard? Is it true?" Evidently, the sweet, hard-working man isn't what the girl really wanted. It seems she'd left him for a boy not unlike the one she wanted to forget in the first place.

After I heard the rumour (and confirmed it, of course, on facebook), I had to purse my lips- in all honesty, I saw it coming. He was (from what I had heard) extremely inexperienced, and she was on the rebound.

During the quiet drive as the Dude was bringing me back to Das Haus, it suddenly hit me: I can count on two hands (and all ten toes) the number of people I know who are either currently engaged, have been engaged, are married, or (in one girl's case) have been married at one point- all before they are 25. And I wonder, what's the rush? We're in our early twenties, and it still feels like we're teenagers, so eager to grow up. In a world where we're finishing high school in five years, university in four, college for three years after that, and we still don't know what we want to do with our lives, are we really qualified to make this commitment?

I hate to admit that I almost fell under that spell- it's a little exhilarating, feeling like you've found that Romeo, the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with. Sometimes these days even, I find myself with a twinge of jealousy whenever I see a former classmate's engagement ring. But I digress... I learned from my past mistakes (as did my formerly married friend, who is looking for an apartment for herself and her daughter, where her boyfriend can visit a couple times a week).

There have even been a handful of evenings when, after a couple glasses of wine, the Dude and I broached the subject of moving in together, but really... why would I do that? At this moment, I don't even want a room mate, let alone a boyfriend sharing my bed space (and closet space). I like the silence, the option of tuning the world out, enjoying a glass of wine and a book by yourself. To me, a ring doesn't bring instant maturity (or happiness)- paying the bills on my own does (having the bed to myself doesn't hurt either.)

Maybe in ten years, after I've done the college thing, gained a career, accomplished some of my life goals, experienced life on my own, I'll think about moving the Dude into my home.

As long as I find a place with a bigger closet, that is.

Thought I'd start off today's post with a music video!

Ahhh. Sweet love. I was happy to discover that DTP will be touring North America in the fall (HOPEFULLY with a stop in Toronto, so that I can see the amazing, wonderful, multi-talented Devin Townsend liiiiive!)


Anyway, anyway.


Here are some photos from the last few days. I've been busy rearranging Das Haus (out of boredom) and trying not to spend all night on the computer. TOTALLY CANDID and not at all staged by placing camera on a pile of precariously stacked items with the timer on PHOTOGRAPHS AHOOOOYYYYY:

Won't bother going through the items. Band t-shirts, thrift store items, Dickies skirt. Heels heels heels.


I need to go shopping. I'm thinking of hitting up Toronto this weekend and visiting Lush and Aldo for some new cosmetics... and shoes. My Squeaky Green Shower Bar is almost gone... and I need some uber-wedges. The only wedge heels I have are kinda tiny. :(


well, OK, I must force myself to do something NOT on the computer now.


ta-ta.

Somewhat busy.

I rearranged my bedroom. I didn't like how I spent most of my time in the living room plopped in front of the TV. As much as I've always wanted my bedroom to be, you know, just for sleep, I don't think I was giving much credit as to how cozy it is. So now I've moved my desk and brought my laptop into the room, level with my window (Carrie Bradshaw style) so I can type and enjoy the view all at once.

Life has been rather uneventful. I got to hang out with Soul Mate on Friday (for the first time in foreverrrr), ate lots of sushi on Saturday, and had a quiet day in on Sunday. I'm just relaxing before bed right now, enjoying the fact that I can watch a couple episodes of Futurama instead of the same movies over and over as I go to bed.

However: I am feeling disappointment because I just made some popcorn that I will not get to finish. :(

New pictures soon. I've got a couple days worth locked up.


By the way, my lilac tree has buds. :)

Sunny weekend goodness.

Dress: King of Kensington $10

Tank top: Aeropostale $25

Tights: Ardene $2 (modified)

Necklaces: Fake pearls $4, Real pearls, gift, black chandelier necklace, heirloom from mom.

Bandanna: Staple.

Shoes: Market sale, $20

Wish every single day could be the weekend...

It's almost spring again. I just pulled my mini skirts and tank tops out from under the bed. I heard birds chirping happily on my walk to work this morning. Pretty soon I can put away the boots and the tights and go bare legs and high heels to work again! This also means the yearly Closet Clean Out!

As usual, over the summer/fall when I had spending money (before das Haus), I accumulated too much crap. It's time for me to get rid of that crap and maybe make some money doing it. In the past I would organize a clothing swap with my friends, but seeing as they're all off doing bigger and better things, and I'm still in Po'Dunk (and I dislike a lot of the females still in town), it'll be hard to organize a weekend when they can all come down.

I'm considering an Etsy store. It just seems a lot less sketchy than eBay. Thoughts(to all of my zero readers?)?

Speaking of spring... ALDO's new spring products, anyone?

Husley $60. Gron $80. Caneles $135.

Ugh, okay, torture me before 9 AM, won't you?

Above is some of the new stock in at Aldo Canada's online shop. I'm in luuuuuuuurve! I love these shoes! So booty! So leathery! So wedgy and heely!! Caneles also comes in a taupe colour but I am in love with the grey w/teal laces. I have a love affair with grey clothing, you know. I also love the Gron booty for it's chunky black punk rawk kinda flavour. The Husley just looks plain comfortable and hides a little wedge heel, which I think is sooo cute, plus it's super affordable at $60. I'll have to stock up my shopping cart to take advantage of free shipping. For me, Aldo has had an excellent track record for shipping, even the free shipping has arrived next-day for me. Love!

Also: The Bay's White Space!

I've never been a Barbie fan, but the Barbie Collection by David Dixon has me riveted. Suddenly I need a pink pencil skirt. Also, the pink soles on the pumps? Waaaay cute! I love the secretary-esque ensembles that are put together but I HATE the giant fake glasses. Have I ever mentioned this? Stop me before I rant.

Onto other news.
In case you couldn't tell, I love Natasha Law. Actually, I love modern pin-up art altogether. And speaking of pink and girly, this is going to be my next tattoo:

(Photo from breedlondon.com where a lot of her art is displayed. Go take a look!)

How cute, eh? A very talented friend of mine is doing me a big favour and doing it up for about $60, which is a huuuge deal. And this will be soon, as in, the next couple weeks.

Exciting? Yes! Terrifying? Also yes!

And finally, I've linked to my Poupee Girl, so you can see my little Japanese paper doll that has much nicer clothing than I do... and some of my clothing. :3

Sadly, the weekend is almost over! I have one more day to do all of that schoolwork that I said I'd do yesterday, before I fell asleep on the couch with a guinea pig on my lap. I should get on that.

Until next time!

Cavies and Chocolate Milk!

These little dudes have been taking up my time lately. :3 But I have been able to peruse to peruse the net for cute dresses!

WWHHH-CHAAAA! Dress911!

These dresses are too cute, and affordable (running from about $40-$60 a piece). The store is based in London, ON and also has a Dress-A-Month Giveaway. :)

Some examples!

I love the first dress, as it reminds me of a Jack by BB Dakota dress that slipped away from me last summer. :( I might have to order it when I come into some extra moolah.

The second is an adorable knitted sweater dress. I love the colour, and the design on the front.

The third picture is a super cute earring set (but I wear wooden earrings only, as I'm allergic to most cheap metals), and the fourth is an adorable retro-style dress, which I love!

I love the Space Invaders bag. It doesn't remind me so much of my childhood as that episode of Futurama where Fry asks that What If? machine what life would be like if it was more like a video game. And anything that reminds me of Futurama is good. I also love the dark grey floral tights. :3 I don't wear tights, usually (except under pants when it's cold out), but these ones are so cute I might actually consider slipping them on under a skirt or dress.

Also, a curly mustache. Because yes.

Das Haus is a mess right now. I haven't done dishes in several days, and I have bras hanging up in my shower drying that I washed on SATURDAY! bleck.

Anyway, I should get back to work (or, schoolwork). I've got an assignment due in 11 hours that I haven't started yet. :/

No more fooling around! ... after a can of Chef for lunch.

My love affair/Fall 2010 RTW

My hair currently smells like a mixture of this and this.

I have a love affair with Lush.

When I lived in Toronto, whenever I walked past the Lush store in the Eaton Centre (as it is right next to the Dundas subway station entrance) I would always take a deep whiff. It smelled amazing. Late last year I discovered that the Lush website accepts Paypal... and I ordered so much product. For days after I moved in my bathroom smelled like a Lush store, which was amazing.

I currently use the Squeaky Green Shampoo (link above) and the Jungle conditioner (also linked above). On my body I use the Ice Blue soap. At the end of the day I wash my face with the Herbalism skin cleanser, and then moisturize with Gorgeous (although I'm going to try out a less expensive moisturizer once this runs out because $85!? holy fuck!).

Basically, I'm a Lush junkie. I love the products, I love the smell, I love their commitment to charities and the environment (this is coming from someone who does not own plastic wrap or ziploc bags... and only RELUCTANTLY bought garbage bags last night).

Speaking of quirky segue into the next topic (in an attempt to condense two posts into one): Fashion Week! ... is over. I've been too busy cheering on Team Canada and moving into das Haus to pay much attention, however, over the next few days I'll be looking at the collections on Style.com and giving you, my lack of readers, my opinions. :)

Fall 2010 Ready to Wear:

And this is just what I've seen so far.

Vivienne Westwood Red Label: To be honest, at first I was kind of mleh about this collection, but these ensembles in particular stood out. I LOVE the giant heart belt, and off-the-shoulder dresses. I love how playful and relaxed the third outfit is (you can see the bottom on the shirt under the sparkly skirt!) and the model is totally loving it, too. Plus, chunky leg warmers? A trend after my own heart.

Betsey Johnson: I will always have a soft spot for Betsey Johnson, and this collection made me smile. :D Old West! Girls with mustaches! Male models in striped jail pajamas! I love the bird hat on the first girl (and would definitely wear one/need to make one, ASAP) and normally I feel ankle-length dresses are too old (I never hopped on the maxi dress trend) but I love the shape and pattern of the centre one- it takes that style and adds a bit of girly (in the cap sleeves) and punky (in the black & red stripes). Plus the bright red boots! heart heart. I'm definitely feeling the all-white suit on the third girl (cane, mustache and small dog included).

3.1 Phillip Lim: This collection had pretty colours, but nothing really stood out for me except the awesome sheer asymmetrical coverings that many of the models were wearing. Note to self: Find sheer fabric, hop on this trend for fall. Love!

I'm going to be going through the photos bit by bit and hopefully will cover most of my favourite designers in a short amount of time. :3

(all photos are from http://www.style.com/)

Some photos from the party.

Update later. Need to get to work.

In other news.

I took a little inspiration from Tavi in my outfit this morning.

This is what I'm wearing today... except the Roxy top is white with blue birds, not the other way around.

Anyway,

Lost a small battle to the house the other day. For a building that's supposed to be "really well insulated" it gets awfully cold. I threw up some curtains into open doorways and when I'm in the living room I usually keep the curtains and all of the other doors shut.

I went into the bathroom to take a shower and decided to turn on the little heater in there. Lo and behold, when I went to move the boxes that are currently haphazardly shoved into that room, I discovered that the heater was already goddamn on! In a fit of environmental rage (and frugality) I turned off the heater and proceeded to shower without it.

Five minutes later, I throw open the shower curtain and reach for my hand when I notice that not only is it COLD in there, I can see my fucking breath. I'm surprised icicles didn't instantly form on my arm as soon as I moved it outside of the warm confines of the shower. I grab the closest towel, a dingy little hand towel that is oft forgotten, and shut the curtain again as quickly as possible, trying to preserve what warm air I had left from the shower. I tried as best I could to dry myself with a tiny 6-inch-square piece of fabric that spends most of its days hanging limply from a sad towel rack next to the toilet. Needless to say I only got a small portion of one limb dry before the towel gave up and fell dramatically to the ground with a wet "sploosh" sound.

But I was not defeated yet. I remembered my housecoat! The pink fluffy monstrosity that my mother had purchased me years before (along with a pair of pink fuzzy slipper boots)! It lay on the ground, within reach, and would protect me from the cold for the split second that I had to run from the shower to the door. I wrapped the fuzziness around myself as best I could, threw open the shower curtain, took that first step... and...

Tripped. I accidentally caught my foot on the tub and lost my balance, effectively slamming my face into the cold, hard, grimy bathroom tile. My poorly-secured fuzzy pink housecoat fluttered open and my chest received the full force of the impact. My arms shot out to try to secure any sort of leverage to no avail, and my legs flailed uselessly behind me, trying to defy gravity and gain footing on any surface within kicking distance.

I lay, defeated, face down on the bathroom floor until my body realizes that holy fuck this floor is cold, somehow managed to find that footing and leverage that was unavailable during my fall, and booted ass out of the door. I slammed the door shut, leaned against it and started imagining what life will be like without a bathroom. Before my mind could roam to the unpleasant decision of which corner shall now serve as my toilet, and what kind of dish soap would make a less horrible shampoo, I suddenly remembered the items left behind, including my awesome salon-quality hair dryer, and my absolutely favourite La Vie en Rose bra, and realized that by fighting das Haus, I had risked all and lost. I quickly got dressed and, tail in between my legs, walked to work, my damp hair freezing in the chilly outside temperatures.

The entire day I tried not to imagine what life would be like, and I skulked home only to find that The Dude had been the brave one and gone back into the bathroom to rescue my belongings and turn the heat back on.

That is how I was defeated by the house. And also, why I love The Dude.

In 20 minutes, give or take, it will be The Dude's 22nd birthday. As such, I'm drinking as much coffee as I can while his birthday cake is baking in the oven, so it may be ready for when he gets home from work at 3:30 AM.

(Reprayzentin' the CBC!)

Merry Weekend, Everybody!

Suddenly Social

I grew up on the far end of town. Despite many peoples claims to the contrary, yes, it DOES take 40 minutes to walk to the beach, OK? At least it's a 40 minute walk and not a 40 minute drive (speaking of, I've never lived away from water... but more on that later).

Nobody wants to walk that far. Also, most of my friends don't drive, so it was always a pain for any of us to get together during the winter because it gets cold and damp and generally unpleasant to be outside in the winter (that's what I get for living next to the lake!) and who wants to walk 40 minutes in that?

So as soon as I pick myself up and move myself downtown, greatly increasing my living space because I no longer am confined to my room, suddenly everyone wants to come visit. I'm surprised at how many friends I actually have (last facebook count was around 199, but that is including the people I only keep on there because they have great style or cool tattoos). If I were to have an ACTUAL friend count of the people I talk to regularly/go visit/have visit me, it would probably be closer to 20. 20 people I would consider to be friends.

But this is not a rant about my lack of social life. This is about the week long housewarming party that I seem to be having.

Behold!

Mind you the less-blurry figure on the couch is The Dude, who has been my faithful companion since Christmas '08.
REGARDLESS, AI (who is standing) has been flaking off my attempts to hang out since October. This is the second night I spent at the house, and suddenly I am cool to hang out with.

Why didn't I think of this in high school? First you get das Haus, then you get die Freunde.

Also: Sunday, The Dude was gone to the grocery store so he could make me a kickin' rad Valentine's Dinner, and I was lazing about watching Futurama when Most Stylish Friend called me. I call her this because she is, obviously, Most Stylish, not only of all my friend but in my opinion of everyone I have ever met/seen pictures of. I only wish I thought to get a picture of her failing at Beatles Rock Band because it was not only a) hilarious but also, b) Most Stylish. Love it!

Monday was sombre, as it was Family Day and nothing was goddamn open. I lounged around in my pajamas and did homework which The Dude played Fallout 3. Perfection.

Tuesday was my first wholly alone night! Actually not true I went to my parents and my dad cooked me a steak and we watched Womens Snowboard Cross, where Maelle Ricker won gold. Good for her. I did however get to chat with Soul Mate, which I don't get to do much since she picked up and moved back to Toronto, the big jerk.

Yesterday was vurrrryyy busy indeed, not just with my work computer DYING and resulting in me using the student computer which is OLD and SLOW as SHIT, but with talking to buds and making plans. Little KT and I planned Wednesday is Spaghetti Dinner. Not-Sheila and I planned Thursday night get-together (BTW I need to do dishes before anybody else comes to my house) and I might FINALLY be seeing Jeff (no nickname) because he's been in MANITOBA since JANUARY doing TRAINING and WHY the CAPS? I don't know.

Saturday is The Dude's 22 birthday, which is taking place at my house. I'm getting K&K down from Toronto Friday, which makes me happy, because they are my favourites and I haven't seen them since New Years when I barfed all over Chester subway station. We'll see how this event turns out, and pictures will follow!

***

And now, because I am so self-obsessed, here are some more pictures of das Haus.

The oreos were for the dessert I was making... until I realized that I didn't have a measuring cup and had to get The Dude to drive me ALL THE WAY TO SUPERSTORE to pick one up. And a baking sheet. Fuck, this is expensive.

Please find the lovely Dana Scully!

I love these! I have them on all of the cupboards above the sink.

And a bonus shot of delicious, delicious Valentine's dinner.