If Barbie Had Hightops

While throwing my stuff in a locker at the gym a few weeks ago, the girl next to me pulled out the loudest pair of hightop sneaks I have ever seen. They were every colour of neon.

"I LOVE YOUR SHOES" I said in an awkward, monotone, way-to-loud voice (my IPOD was already thumping in my ears, and I was too excited to think to pull the earbuds out before trying to have a conversation.

I have been looking for my very own pair of colourful hightops for the past half year, but have had no luck finding what I really want for discount.

I get so addicted to the price tag, that I sometimes find myself buying stuff I don't love because it's too cheap to pass up.

Problem is that sometimes I end up spending more in the end because I keep looking for that thing I really wanted in the first place.

It's a skill I'm trying to learn- knowing when to spend and when to save.

It's like those cheap $12 jeans that have way-to-small pockets, and thus, make your rear view humongous. At the time you thought they were a good idea, but then you catch a glimpse of the back of yourself in a photo and suddenly you want to burn them at the stake.

I'm a sucker for anything and everything cheap, but I'm tired of all the "burnings."

When I saw those bright hightops in all their glory- I decided I would only buy a pair I loved.



These shoes will get me noticed.

The funnest pair of shoes since those LA Gears I had in grade 2 with the ribbon laces.

My seven year old self would be high-fivin' me right now.

I also feel my Brooklyn girls, Jenny Humphrey and Vanessa Abrams, would let me tag along to some cool, underground concert.

They say "Bronx" inside. Total street cred points.

Sweaty, Hot Lemonade

When life hands you lemons...

Missed the Ferry- stuck at Duke Point for 3 3/4 hours. Me, not happy. I had predicted we would be too late for the 3:15pm sailing and wanted to pull off the Island Hwy and bide our time poking around in shops.

I'm not a gambler- if there's a decent chance it won't work, I usually accept defeat and move on (turns out Scotty had wanted to get home so he could play basketball with his buddies).

As we set down our bags in the waiting area, I was seeing red.

"This is my nightmare," I grumbled... "stuck doing nothing for the next 5 hours" (I was factoring in the 2 hour ferry ride).

Scotty, sensing I might turn into a polar bear and mull him, moved a few rows ahead of me and buried his head in his textbooks.

I let out a few heavy sighs, so my frustration would be made clear (in case he hadn't noticed my red glowing eyes).

After a minute or so, I realized my sour mood wasn't gonna get me anywhere. In fact, I had very recently come across two things that had stuck with me: the first was something that Michael Buble he said while on "The Hour- with George Stomboulopolous" the previous evening. He talked about how often he has missed out on a good evening because he was too busy playing passive aggressive games with his significant other every time he got his nose out of joint. It never gets him anywhere, so he's been trying to just let things go, and in the end, he's been having a lot better time.

I am queen passive aggressive.

The other was a quote I had read on a card in "House of Leaves" while hunting for more trinkets earlier that morning:

Take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves
-Lord Chesterfield

---

I dramatically unzipped my sac and grumpily started pushing things from side to side. I yanked out my IPOD and headphones, followed by my spandex and runners... if anger was gonna be my main course for the evening, a good bum was gonna be the side dish.

All the heavy breathing caught Scotty's attention (I like to think he believed I was turning into the Incredible Hulk, and was prepared to see me in all my green glory with shredded clothing, ripping the benched from the ground). A slight smile crossed his face as he watched me doing squats under the weight of his backpack full of textbooks.

45 mins later, I finished a pretty good weight session (thanks to those textbooks). I headed outside to find some stairs to run and stumbled upon a set with a fantastic view (right on the edge of a small cliff overlooking the ocean).

 20 mins later, stairs were done and I found myself jogging along a truly gorgeous trail that snaked along the ocean, popping in and out of the forest.

Another 30 mins later, I was racing against the twilight. As darkness began to swallow the point, Nanaimo's city lights twinkled across the bay.

I returned to the terminal with only 40 mins to change out of my sweaty gear and reapply a little makeup.

I had sweated out all my toxic, passive aggressive anger- found a little adventure and took in a whole lot of beauty.

Sweaty lemonade... much better than sitting around being a crock pot of fury.

For You.

I have been priviledged.

Spoiled rotten.

And I know it.

Anyone who knows me, has heard me brag.

I speak higher of her than any person.

I have been witness to her strength, and over the years have discovered this strength in my self.

The way that she has lived her life has been the greatest gift to me. I have been greatly blessed by her. She's always in my corner, and has made me believe I really can do anything.

I know that my independence, stubborn streak, creativity, drive, my "I am woman hear me roar", and intense love for my family and friends all come from her.

She has taught me to be thankful for what I do have, to get up and brush myself off no matter how hard I am knocked down, and to always care for "the least of these."

Her life has been the single most greatest example of love, integrity and perservearance.

She's my hero.

If I can be half the woman she is, I will feel I have suceeded.

... and I am blessed just to be her daughter.

Happiest birthday Mum. I love you with all my heart.

Robo Boogie

While out trick or treating, I always pick out my next years' costume. Next year I am going to go as a moth... a 60's bohemian style moth.

This year, I hunted down a couple cardboard boxes, dryer tubing, duct tape and silver spray paint and made myself one wicked "robosapien" costume.

It all started in September when I walked into a machine rental store (which also sells moving boxes) looking to buy a "book box" for the head of my robot. I bought boxes because I wanted them to be in pristine condition and I was looking for very specific sizes.

Too bad they were all sold out of the book boxes.

Over the next 15 minutes, the two mechanics ran around looking for boxes that some of their "parts" came in. I stood there trying various boxes on my head. Some were pretty dirty- covered in oil stains- others were far too shallow- more of a hat than a head, but I still put them on because I found it all so humorous. I left empty-handed that day, but I had a good laugh about it all.


Head, body and hands done. All it needs is a coat of silver spray paint. Now to make boots. I looked around for a couple shoe boxes and some bendy cardboard for the shaft of the boot.... all I came up with was these yard waste paper bags and some big chunks of sturdy cardboard.

But all covered in duct tape, and no one knows any different.


Eat your heart out Jimmy Choo.
The finished product. The motherboard featured functions such as: pinch, kick, jump, throw object. There were also "Dynamic Walking" choices like: Reverse, Crab Walk, and Emotionally Aggressive.

I even practiced my binary code... didn't get to show case it as much as I would've liked.

I carved a pumpkin of myself.
The trick or treating crew. What you can't see in the picture is that I had speakers shoved up one of my arms (the gibbled broken looking one in the shot below) and my IPOD in hand.

"Robots" by Flight of the Concords was my theme song, obviously, but there were great dance tunes pumping out of my arm the whole evening.

A Winter Wonder Woodland

While mulling over the gorgeous grey and silver bird-themed center piece that would be eaten alive by sheer "busy-ness" of the Villa, thus completely inappropriate for my place but so pretty, I came up with this years' (and following years') theme: winter wonder woodland.

Truth be told, I have been gathering a few items over this past year without Christmas in mind at all. There's the big black and white papasan chair I bought in Seattle over Valentines which features a pattern of trees and woodland creatures. Then there's the squirrel and owl made from grasses and pine cones that I couldn't resist at Coombs market last spring. My owl collection grew to be a little family of three this past fall and has taken up permanent residence on my bookshelf.

While I tried to find some ideas online, I couldn't find any one site that featured the ideas floating around in my head in one cohesive theme. Instead, I found some adorable decorations from an assortment of sites that, all together, begin to describe my idea.

www.liberty.co.uk

www.liberty.co.uk

I adore these little glass birds. We used to have some on our tree when I was just tiny... I love the vintage feel of them.

http://www.bronners.com/

And speaking of vintage, I'm beginning to comb the "glass figurines" section of Value Village for things like this little raccoon. So far I've found a squirrel (another purchase unrelated to this idea- bought it in the summer) and a couple ceramic toadstools.

www.etsy.com

I only wish I had the slightest clue how to make these felted acorns, but I don't so I'll have to figure out another way to make acorns as I didn't have the foresight to collect them this summer.

www.etsy.com

I love the acorns, and I love love love these little toadstools. I've already picked up some Styrofoam balls that I hope to cover with felt.

etsy at this address

Does anyone have a clue where I can buy one of these? I've yet to see them in pink sparkles. I'm a little torn about getting one though as I've seen a variety of them everywhere this year (I don't recall them last year)... I don't want to just jump on the trend bandwagon, but one like this is just so pretty.

www.heals.co.uk

Or I could go with a glittery head on my wall. I feel like this is kinda mocking all those trophy hunters out there and I like that.

www.heals.co.uk

www.target.com

Then there's this idea for the centerpiece. I like the use of colour, but I don't know if I want all that glitter. You can find the craft tutorial for it on the Martha Steward website (link is below the picture).

Tutorial on Martha Stewart website

This next Saturday will be my last one off before we jet south for Christmas... a Mele Kalikimaka to be exact. After this next weekend, it's four 84 hour work weeks until we leave, so I'll be spreading a little cheer (not the standard xmas explosion that takes 4 insomnia-filled days to set up) around my place this weekend.

This Would Be Lovely at Your Place

While watching designer Lynn Spence, on Cityline, put together Christmas centerpieces, one of them triggered my own creative center. Sometimes I come across ideas that I just can't let go of... even if they wouldn't quite work in my own life (weather it be fashion or decor). I mull over them and mull some more until they begin to take shape of something that would work for me.  

Obviously I need to decorate my friend's spaces too, so that I can use a wider range of ideas.  

Anyways, I have searched and searched the internet for pictures of this gorgeous centerpiece idea, because I think someone ought to use it, but have had zero luck. However, the concept was quite simple, so I'll do my best to describe it. 

Besides, it's about using the idea, not copying it exactly. 

She started with a crisp white table linen and placed assorted clear glass hurricane candle holders of varying heights and sizes (some on pedestals and others not). Then she filled them all with GREY pillar candles (brilliant and unexpected... fairly thrifty too, as grey candles in hurricanes can be used throughout the rest of the year!). Peir 1 has some really nice grey pillars, but I would check Winners and HomeSense so that you can keep that arm and leg. I've found gorgeous hurricanes in the dollar store, and they are a great investment, as they can be used for any season. 

Two or three silver metal birds/branches like these were placed amongst the hurricanes. I've seen so many like this at Value Village, but they're usually grungy gold. A coat of silver spray paint (and perhaps a topcoat of silver spray sparkles?), would make them look new again.

AMradio on Etsy  

Finally she then took dainty little vases (clear glass, white, and silver) and stuffed them full of sparkly silver twigs and sprinkled them in amongst the hurricanes.  

Simple, but gorgeous! And not so redundant. I loved that everything other than the sparkly twigs could go beyond christmas (the birds would be adorable on top of side-stacked books on a shelf or on your coffee table...as long as you didn't cover them in glitter). Mini vases (search your local thrift shop for them) could house flowers of any season (mini pink roses at valentines, daisies at Easter etc.).

Something simple and classy like this would get eaten alive in the Villa. I have no self control when it comes to colour. That combined with the seperateness of each room and the size of the place wouldn't do something like this justice. I think it'd be gorgeous in a smaller, more open setting- like an apartment/townhouse/condo. If I lived in a more modern setting, this would be my centerpiece, but you won't get competition from me in finding those metal birds in Value Village.

Choo in a Store Near You

This Saturday marks the arrival of Jimmy Choo's collection for H&M. You can browse the shoes here.



While Choo shoes, with a price tag ranging from $675-$1295, have remained out of reach of my little feet, this collection features shoes/boots ranging $69.99-$299.99.

I'm plucking the last few leaves from my money tree, but for any of you lucky ladies with a little extra cash, the H&M at Pacific Center will be carrying the line.

Be sure to line up early, as they're expecting a bit of a frenzy.

Whimper

While on the island this summer, I fell in love.

On our way out to Coombs, my mom mentioned a place called "Bamboozle." I was quite shocked that there was a place in the Parksville area I didn't know of. 

With a name like that, how can you say no?

As soon as I stepped into the store I let out a whimper as I took in the decor. Mixing stuffed ravens and crystal chandeliers? Way too much to handle. 

  

While my mouth was hanging open at this little jewel of a shop, the salesperson served us a sample of the day's tea (georgia peach iced tea) in clear glass espresso cups.


Every nook and cranny is stuffed full with amazing trinkets. This girl is a sucker for trinkets.

It caters to the nosiest customers by filling each and every drawer of two massive wardrobes with goodies that just begs to be searched.



The sillier the better for everyone...except Mr wallet.



I loved the way these frames were held up by a piece of ribbon so much that I went home and did the same with a few of my frames.


I was SO tempted by these earrings and necklace... but I wanted everything in the store, so I said no to this and a thousand other "wants."

Charming little stickies.




I love you, but I can't buy you.






Once I painfully settled on a couple items, the salesperson wrapped them and put them in this cute paper bag (which I took home and put in a frame)


So what did I settle on?

This card (in a frame at home).


And this necklace... LOVE Alice in Wonderland... planning a tea party in the forest this next spring in honour of Mr Burton's take on the classic story- don't even get me started on how excited I am for it.


Even their tags are personalized... marketing smarty pants!

Life With Scotty: Feeling Sorry for Himself

I am starting a new post theme called "Life With Scotty." It will feature the little life moments that make him who he is and can make me want to laugh and cry; rip out my hair and hug him all at the same time. 

"I hate school, I'm quitting"

-scotty, a minute before I took this shot

A Perfect Autumn Bite

Now that the weather's getting cooler and the days are getting shorter...

...it's time to stay inside and eat.

While on the island a few days ago, I sampled the most amazing and easy snack/appy at the Qualicum Foods grocery store. It was so good, in fact, that my mom and I HAD TO buy the two ingredients to make it and eat it that night (as an appitizer before my mother's and mine "World Famous Meatcakes").

The two ingredients are: 

This amazing cheese:

I did a little research on white stilton courtesy of Wikipedia. Stilton is either blue or white. Blue is the more common form. The white version has not had the mould introduced to it, so it doesn't have that pungent taste. Some people liken it to plain yogurt- it has somewhat of an unfinished taste by itself; therefore, white stilton is often mixed with dried fruit, so it should not be a problem tracking this little slice of love down in any grocery store. It is nothing like brie cheese with fruit or a cream cheese spread. The texture is soft, yet crumbly and it has a slightly tangy flavour.

Just be careful when eating it:

A 2005 survey carried out by the British Cheese Board reported that when it came to dream types, Stilton cheese seemed to cause odder dreams than other cheese, with 75% of men and 85% of women experiencing "odd and vivid" dreams after eating a 20-gram serving of the cheese half an hour before going to sleep. [Wiki]

And thin, crisp gingersnaps. The less sweet, more gingery kind. The mixture of the tangy cheese, pears, apples and ginger is unbelievable and is full of perfect fall flavours.

Paired with concord grapes and an english-style apple cider, such as that found at the Merridale Estate Cidery  in the Mill Bay area of Vancouver Island (yes, I went. Yes, I will gush about it in a later post), and you've got an autumn party in your belly.

It doesn't sound like much, and it certainly doesn't cost much, but if you are having or going to a get-together and have no clue what to bring- than pear stilton gingersnaps is it. I am a sweet-tooth and loved it. My mom and brother prefer salty snacks and they loved it. Try it. Love it.

Back In The Saddle Again

My computer is full.

While I deleted a bunch of files and freed up 4 GB of memory, that disappeared in one day.

I hate computers.

I did manage to squeeze some photos on it, so now I can begin posting again! So much to show... where to start?

Yesterday I boarded the ferry and came back to the mainland after a blissful 3 days with family and friends.

My older brother is turning 29 this coming Monday, so we had a wee celebration for him on Wednesday.

I had told my sister-in-law that I was going to make Thayne a meat-cake for his birthday. She laughed as if I told a joke. I was dead serious. 

My mom put in the grunt-work of man- handling the flesh and shaping it into lovely little cupcakes.

Like any self-respecting vegetarian, I made the salad.

I also took the time to lay out his gifts: a mustache and gory tattoo wounds.

If I haven't said it before: Thayne is one lucky brother.

Tiana really appreciated the mustache. There are SO many uses for a fake mustache.

If Only...

I had no bills to pay, I might have these boots.

Oh Cassetty.

Thrift magic in 15 mins or less

What better way to become truly thankful for all those hot, restless nights during our heatwave than to go shopping for fall and winter jackets?

It reminds me of all those cold, rainy days that are just around the corner... so suck it up and embrace the heat.

It also gives me free reign on the coats/jackets section of Value Village because no one is even thinking about winter!!!

I've always had good luck with finding great coats while it's still warm out... I've also had luck during the first few weeks of fall weather because people are cleaning out their summer clothes in favour of warmer stuff and they almost always make a run to the thrift store with the items they don't want to wear anymore.

That's when I swoop in and find this jacket:

It's real wool too! All it needs is to be gone over with the wool shaver and it'll be like new.


This one I am convinced IS new. I'm guessing it was a gift and the brat didn't know a good thing when she had it.
It'll help "up" my cred with the teens... I need to maintain all the cred I can get.

I know, I know. It's a little steep for Value Village pricing, but then I remind myself that people spend that much on a pot of MAC eyeshadow.

Done deal.

I've been seeing these jackets in every magazine I flip through. They're always worn open, with the sleeves rolled up 3/4 length and paired with jeans. They're not the short jackets from 3 years ago, they're long in the torso (cover the bum) and the lapels extend quite far down the body. I'd like to sew in some patterned fabric on the inside of the lower sleeve (black and red stripes? perhaps) so that it shows when the sleeves are rolled up.

Bought it for the price of a venti latte.

Sometimes I refer to myself as "thrift wizzard" because I swear that I almost dream things onto the racks. I only spent 15 mins in VV because I had places to go and people to see. As I was heading to the register with my three jackets, I was day-dreaming about how cute a pair of satin shorts would look with the long sport-coat.

BAM!!!

Literally didn't stop walking and just pulled these from the rack. Only slowed down enough to hold them up to myself and eyeball if they'd fit.
Turns out they fit perfectly, AND they're brand new... still have the original tags!!!

You Want To Sit On That Yellow Seat Without Your Pants On

I'm doing my spring cleaning a little late... three years late.

It turns out that we're going to be staying at the "villa" for at least another year, so it's time to redecorate. I used to drive my mom crazy when I was a kid because I used to rearrange my bedroom  furniture every two months or so. By the time I was in grade three I had figured out that I could push around my desk and dresser around by sitting on the floor and using my legs (which was also how I defended myself against attacks from my big brothers...thank you legs). Sometimes I would be lying in bed at night and a completely new layout of my room would fill my head. I engaged in a little midnight room makeover on more than one occasion. It wasn't only tricky because I had to move my room around in the dark, but also because my room was right next to my parents' so it had to be silent. Sometimes I got away with it and would tuck myself into my "new room" at 3am... and other times my mom would catch me and tell my crazy butt to get to bed.

It was a sweet deal when I actually pulled through with my stealth missions because I would awake in the morning to wonder where the heck I was. I was never a partier in school, and I figure that it was what my peers felt after a night of crazy binge-drinking... for the first minute at least. What a rebel.

Due to my pack ratting, I've got junk shoved everywhere in our villa. I had hoped to not have to deal with it until we moved, but that's not happening anytime soon, and I've come close to revisiting the late night room redecorating so I think it's time to take action.

I attacked my closet first.

4 days and 7 full garbage bags of clothing, shoes and purses later...

...my closet it still full. I consider it the "loaves and fish" closet.

I even pulled some items and ironed them. Chelsea's growing up.

Then I tackled my bathroom. Too bad I always forget to take "before shots."


The "Audrey" is from Winners. I admit, I'm not a devoted Audrey fan- I just really liked it.
Good memories in that feather mask.

I got this wonderful idea of making a hat/mask wall from myself. One thing that is better than a disguise is an accessible one. I like to keep my options open.

If you make a stink, 'ol doe-eyes has got a match for you. Figuring out how to light it is up to you. 

Jealous of the 70's yellow toilet/sink/tub? I am too (renter).

Remember that time I tried to sell bath products? Now they're made for me and my good friends exclusively (the bottle on the left is "Wake Me Up Baby" bath tea and the right is "Kiss Me Goodnight" bath tea. If you don't know what the front one is, you're on your own.)


Sun glass storage. I love the surprise 70's left-overs in this house.
The trash from cleaning out the bathroom. Sorry mother nature. I'll walk to work (when I work close to home).



Bags and bags of clothing in the "junk room" (just the name of that room encourages me in my clean-out of this place). I had thought of selling some of the good stuff on eBay, but then one of the young women I work with went off to drug treatment (Praise Jesus!), so I went through it all and bagged up the creme De la creme and dropped it off on Saturday so that she could have Christmas in July.

I like being Santa.


I've never seen such beauty in any linen closet of mine, but I owed it to my new glow-in-the-dark "Incredible Hulk" blanket to give him a nice home... after all, he treated me real nice at Sasquatch Music Fest.

Now I am 1/48th of the way there. Big things to come for the villa. Hopefully I'll remember to do a before and after. Everyone likes a before and after.

And they'll like it even more when I throw a we-rearranged-our-house-warming-party after.

Potter

Last weekend we went to Harry Potter. I wanted to look like I had read the books, so I wore my glasses and striped shirt (I haven't read any of the books).
Scotty said his dad had the exact same glasses in the 70's... if only our parents had saved everything.
I brought along a pair of glasses to wear at dinner with Sandy and Steve before the show.
I can't resist anything stupid... Scotty just shakes his head every time I say, "OHMYGOODNESS... You have to see what I just bought!!!!"


I think that guy should be a lot more thrilled to be drinking through his glasses. This'll probably be my kids' reaction to all the dumb novelty stuff I get them.
This almost made me buy two sets... if only Scotty didn't worry about budget, he'd actually like it if I brought home useless crap for him too.

I think loafers helped up my "I-read-all-the-Potter-books-in-one-sitting" image.
And the plaid jacket said, "I like the books so much more than the movies."

While we were driving, it started to rain. We haven't seen rain for a long time. Noah (Scotty) was so excited to see it that he opened the sun-roof.
While driving to Cloverdale, the thunder and lightening storm started. I began to wonder if Sandy and Steve's house would even be standing by the time we got there. It looked as if it was hitting houses.

Luckily, their house was not struck by lightening AND Steve dressed up too.

Stupify!
Scotty said "you can't drink wine through a silly straw!" And I showed him I could indeed drink it through a silly straw. Absurdity! 
Scotty demonstrated his angst when trying to find sunglasses that can accommodate his girthy nose bridge (note how high they sit on his face). I have to watch for glasses that sit too close to my cheeks. I always do the "smile test" when trying them out to make sure they don't lift every time I smile.
Eyebrows inside the rim? Not a good fit.
After dinner we ran back and forth through Steve and Sandy's place to see whether the best view was in the front or the back. I liked the front because I could rock with Sandy in the porch swing.
Big FLASH-CRACK!!! 


I liked the monsoon rain, made me think of Hawaii.

Sandy and Steve live in Pleasantville.



It took a lot of patience to get a shot of the lightening. When it's forking all over the sky, it's hard to know where to point your camera. I almost gave up because I felt like I was missing everything, but I just pretended I was shooting for National Geographic and I finally got it!

Then we went to the movie and a completely blew my avid Harry Potter fan image when I fell asleep...twice...

Four Boring Nails

Went to my local thrift shop last week.

A few months ago, while scanning their "prom dress" rack, I found my too perfect Vegas Anniversary wedding dress (Scotty and I were there for our 5 year wedding anniversary and I insisted on dressing up as bride and groom and running around the streets).


I've got this boring wall. It's home to four ugly nails. I've covered it with various things, but I'm just not feeling it.


Moishee is excited to redo nail wall too.

While watching MTV's "The City"- I'm a reality TV junkie- I fell in love with Erin's picture cluster behind her couch.

It kills me to go to Home Sense and buy stuff to dress up my walls for $50/pop that I'm not gaga over.

Picture clusters sing to this girl's heart. They can be done cheap, and I'm not suck with having to choose just one thing to hang.

Picture frames are a dime a dozen at thirft shops. I find that Value Village overcharges for theirs ($2-$5/pop). The small, local shops have better frames and they're $0.25-$1.50!!!

I grabbed all these. They're wood, so I probably spray paint 'em.

Off the top of my head I'm thinking creme, black and silver...but the brown in the big one calls to me too...

I think if I made them all the same colour I'd have t have good unity- like all black and white photos, sktches and paintings... I have none of that. I adhere to the school of mish mash (some might call it eclectic).

I also pcked up this little dude.


$5.00 might seem steep, but my mom has a couple of toys that belonged to my grandpa, and this little guy reminds me of them. My grandpa was born in 1893, so I'm guess this could be pretty old.

Who can resist that creepy Joey? Not I, say the thrifter, not I.

They'll go well with Mr. Hoot

and Mr. Nuts (both of which I picked up at Coombs market this past spring).

If You're aiming for cute vintage, the small shops is where it's at.

These were $0.25 each.

And so were these.

I also swung by the jewelry counter to score some sweet treasure.



$2.00 each? You can go wrong! And, they're all the same tone (pearls come in so many different tones, and I want to wear'em multi-stranded, so I snapped 4 of them up).

Then there's these honkin' balls.


Aldo sells something similar for $8.00.

Some flamin' grandma loved these. They remind me of my nutty aunt who made something similar (it was called foil femo?)in the late 80's. I wanted a pair so bad I could taste it, but my ears weren't pierced yet, so I was left with my "stick-ons".

Who's laughing now?

It Could've Been Funny

As I was brewing my tea this morning, the doorbell rang.

I was standing in my kitchen with only a small slip on. Yes, it was 9:40 am and most people would be wearing proper clothing, but most people weren't laying awake at 2 am this morning unable to sleep due to Scotty's moaning and gnashing of teeth.

He's down to the wire in his summer semester, and he's quickly approaching his 28th birthday. Guess he has stress, but I think the loud teeth grinding in his sleep is a tad drama-queen. I even tried to shake him awake. He just rolled towards me and started grinding his teeth in my ear.

My early morning brain had resolved to pack up my stuff in the AM and move to Hawaii.

I think the mid week sleep-in saved my marriage.

Anyways, I'm standing in the kitchen, trapped. Scotty had left the front door open this morning, and any bolt towards the stairs would've given the person standing at my front door an eye full. Which would be extended by the mirrors in the entry that allow for people to see around corners.

It bugs me not to answer the door. Makes me feel like a hermit. I had nearly resolved to dance down the stairs as if it were nothing (I wear less on the beach), but my coward got the better of me.

Mowgli was on the steps growling. What does he think he is? A dog?

When they turned to leave, I made my move. I wanted to see if they were worthy of having a blanketed, blurry eyed, crazy-haired Chelsea chase them down the street.

Nope.

Just two ladies holding tracts with skirts down to their ankles.

I only wish I had answered the door for them in my skivvies. I would have liked to have been part of that awkward moment.

Turns out Mowgli hates Jehovah's Witnesses. I wonder if it's just them. Maybe he's an atheist.

"Recession Club" savings

On my way home from work on Friday night, I swung by the store to grab some supplies for my "recession club" (which I am now officially a member) celebration.

I decided to prepare a "Recession Feast" to share with Scotty.

No recession club celebration is complete without the cheapest bottle of sparkling wine (what poor people like to call champagne).

It also gave me the opportunity to break in my new tiny saucepan. I had seen one at Scotty's mom's, and I couldn't stop thinking of all the sauces I could make in a tiny pot like that. Scotty spotted one at Safeway, and then I spent the next 10 mins trying to pick a colour. I honestly must've walked up an down the isle at least 5 times (I pick a red pot and start walking away, only to be flooded with doubt so I would walk back and trade it for a green one... and on and on. There were only three colours, and it really doesn't make any difference, but I couldn't see that then).

Recession feasts are so much easier to prepare. Why take lots of time to do something if your not getting paid?


Cheers! I am now bringing home leaner bacon.

Sauce pot added up to all my expectations.



The presentation made the feast extra special. I was going for a "bird's nest" idea.
Chilling our dessert. I don't care who you are, when you tear off that foily lid and lick the pudding off it... you feel like a rock star.


Just in case this recession pushes me and Scotty into a life of crime, we need to know how to bust ourselves out.

Celebration indeed.

Strike...

Uggggggh.

Je deteste la recession.

Cut backs at work= $600 less per month for me.

Tres triste. 

I can't really complain too much as my wages weren't cut, just one of my jobs on the side. 

I just found this out today, so tonight I am going to go home and celebrate because it is totally out of my control. I'm still the same person, just a little poorer.