Alex in Wonderland

The Sweet Life

2012-02-16T18:21:00.002-04:00

Being serenaded with Cello Suiteswhile swimming carelessly through your manicured habitat?

...Sounds good to me!

Men in suits, dancing, on a cobblestone lane.

2012-02-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Another reason to love Anne Hathaway

2012-02-16T10:55:00.002-04:00

...did I mention that I ~~secretly~~ love Anne Hathaway? I just think she's great; and that we could be really awesome best friends.

Bedroom Envy

2012-02-15T09:43:00.000-04:00

source

Erin Wasson, why you gotta be so cool?

2012-02-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T07:30:00.000-04:00

Music for a Monday Morning

2012-02-13T09:32:00.000-04:00

I didn't watch the Grammy's last night. I was all set to but then felt I didn't have the patience for all of the Whitney tributes (RIP) so I bowed out.

I'm also not a Foo Fighters fan. I don't dislike them persay, I just don't listen to them.

This being said, the Foo Fighters won a Grammy for this song, and I've listened to it and I like it and Imma gonna post it so you can listen to it too.

2012-02-12T17:10:00.002-04:00

2012-02-10T22:28:00.003-04:00

I kind of feel like this girl is the coolest version of me.

photo credit

2012-02-10T20:32:00.002-04:00

Ever feel like you`ve got a long way to go

2012-02-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

source

Getting my "fantastic new life" up and running is going as smoothly as one might imagine such a venture would... Frustrations and self-doubt abound and I find myself ending my days feeling decidedly unsatisfied with my accomplishments. It will get easier though, right? All of the [baby] steps I'm making on a daily basis will eventually turn into something to stand up and be proud of...right?!

Yesss! Old family photos!

2012-02-09T18:19:00.000-04:00

I've been using my mother's desktop to make what seems like the world's longest resume ("UE Approved Format CV" are my new least favourite words). Template frustrations aside I have found a folder entitled "Old Photos". I don't know where they came from or how they came to be here for me to see, but they are great and worth sharing, so I'm gonna..

My great-grandparents with my three great-aunts

Retro Christmas: my mother is sitting in the chair, her new doll is bigger than her cousin.

My handsome grandfather and his sister Janet with my mom and cousin

Love the shirt dresses - on the left is my darling grandmother!

My grandfather's parents

Mama dearest

isn't she cute?!

Summer in Nova Scotia... headscarf and panama hat both amazing

Cousins playing at the beach - love this shot

My great aunt Mary wearing a fabulous hat

This must be the early 80s? All hairdos worth noting...

My sister found this and immediately sent it to me...

2012-02-03T22:27:00.000-04:00

...she`s got a point.

2012-02-02T23:39:00.001-04:00

Look at what I found!

2012-02-02T16:04:00.000-04:00

In order to take a break from the [un]packing and organizing that seems to have taken over my life these past few weeks I've been perusing through My Documents. The bulk of the contents of this computer folder are job applications, far too many versions of my CV, and small narrations, observations or prose written over the life of this little computer of mine. One of such jewels is what follows, written almost exactly one year ago and ne'er thought of since.

Is it possible to have Style without knowing it? With ‘street style’ images bombarding the fashion world, clothes and fashion as means of personal expression has become important in the culture of today. I look at images of women and men pairing eclectic pieces and patterns in ways that are unfathomable to my mind, but that work in a unique and brilliant way, and create a statement about the person wearing them. As I mentally inventory my sad state of a wardrobe (never again will I live in an apartment without any closets) I honestly cannot think of an outfit or ensemble that truly says something about who I am. Perhaps it is because I am not sure about who I am. I am a 20-something lost in self-doubt and struggling between waiting shifts to come up with ways to discover who I am or what I want to do or how to tap into my passion. I know I am not alone in this. In fact, my current state of confusion has come to be known as a phenomenon by some academics and as a necessary growth period by some psychologists. Say I do have style, for surely there are those who think that I do. Those friends who gasp at a top as we browse through shop racks and exclaim “Alex, this is SO YOU”. These people seem to know something about the clothes that express who I am, so why when pressed to think about it don’t I? A friend of my mother’s once said to told me “You have a completely different ‘look’ every time I see you!” To him it would seem as though my outward appearance changed as frequently and completely as my inner perspective. Yes, I suppose I could be an ESL teacher - OUTFIT. I’m going to go sing in a choir today - OUTFIT. Maybe an office job is right for me - OUTFIT. I loathe the idea that I lack style altogether. I read blogs and magazines, look at photos, and gawk at sartorially superior strangers as they pass me on the sidewalk. I often pine over items in stores but resist buying them because I don’t believe I live a lifestyle worthy of their awesomeness. Take high heels. I have often thought how fabulous it would be to be the type of girl who struts around on a… Tuesday morning in her beautiful stilettos or chunky platforms or high-heeled boots. Then I factor in the fact that I am already 3-6 inches taller than all of my friends, work waiting tables, and don’t go anywhere cool enough to warrant such awesome footwear. (Budgetary restrictions are a whole other source of woe). So I don my loafers and leave my albeit limited selection of heels in the closet awaiting a night out or a special occasion and take note of stylish footwear throughout the day. I loathe to think that I am “style-less” just as much as I am “career-less” or (sad to say) “clueless”. If I can’t get the inner growth, life stuff down I would like to think that I can at least get the style stuff down if not all the time, than at least on a regular basis. Maybe I’ll ‘fake it ‘til I make it’. Pick a word to describe “my style” (because for some reason it is required for those coveted street style snapshot-ees to describe their style in one word or phrase), dig through my small Ikea wardrobe and leave my house wearing something unique, brilliant, and indicative of who I am… or who I am on that particular day anyway.

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

2012-01-31T03:01:00.006-04:00

source

2012-01-27T13:56:00.000-04:00

I found a funny website!

2012-01-27T13:37:00.004-04:00

Bitch, get me out of this dress now.

Ugly Renaissance Babies. Check it out.

Never has such a short video brought me so much joy...

2012-01-26T21:46:00.000-04:00

..except maybe this

Dreams of sunny beaches and really cute outfits...

2012-01-22T11:03:00.000-04:00

Thanks Mulberry!

2012-01-21T12:50:00.000-04:00

My move has devolved into disaster and now seems impossibly stressful. In situations like these my go-to response is procrastination, utter avoidance and sleep however I am trying my best to forge onward. Doing things for myself like going to a yoga class or taking a coffee break have been playing their part as well, but eventually I'm going to have to suck it up and solve this problem.

I've also realized that it takes an incredible amount of energy to try and conceal my inner panic and that it is okay that I'm feeling a bit shaky. Moving is stressful, leaving a place/home/life is sad and transitioning is difficult.

Then I read this and was relieved to discover that I am not the only person who feels the way I do.

2012-01-20T18:16:00.002-04:00

source

David Beckham has a new underwear line...

2012-01-16T13:50:00.002-04:00

Ladies, you're welcome.

2012-01-16T11:06:00.000-04:00

source

A Friday morning pick-me-up !

2012-01-13T09:52:00.001-04:00

2012-01-12T17:32:00.004-04:00

source

Why go to Morocco when you can go to your attic?

2012-01-11T09:26:00.001-04:00

photo from Splendid Sass

2012-01-10T23:00:00.001-04:00

2012-01-09T11:40:00.007-04:00

Just finished looking at the Best Typefaces of 2011. The fact that I don't understand typography lingo somehow made the descriptions of each font that much more entertaining.

My faves are:

Gordon Black

Abril

and

FF Mister K

Marilyn

2012-01-09T11:16:00.002-04:00

2012-01-08T12:25:00.001-04:00

I've spent the better part of this weekend contacting every moving and storage company I can find. I've spent the better part of the last month wondering and worrying over how the hell I'm going to get all of my stuff out of my apartment in Toronto and what I'm going to do with it. (Sell it there, store it there, ship it from there, move it here, store it here, drive it here...)

I can tell you that moving is more of a hassle than I remembered it being, and when moving involves long distances it is also far more expensive than I could have predicted it being. All in all I was so very pleased to find this video over on flyingbuttresses. It pretty much sums up the state of my life at this current juncture.

2012-01-08T11:37:00.002-04:00

Found this photo on my friend Alan's blog. It's so wonderfully him and just a great shot.

2012-01-08T11:04:00.000-04:00

via the paris apartment

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2012-01-01T09:35:00.000-04:00

2011 was a rough one so I'm looking forward to a year that will kick last year's butt!

And as I look forward to the promise of a new year this is the song I'm humming in my head. It's my anthem du jour and my favourite song off Florence Welch's new album:

2011-12-30T10:40:00.000-04:00

This is a concept we've seen before, but as the year closes I think it's nice important to stop and think about how truly awesome our world is and how we can better protect it/celebrate it/ be a part of it in the New Year.

One Day on Earth - Motion Picture Trailer from One Day On Earth on Vimeo.

2011-12-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

I want to live in a house with a room like this one.

photo source

2011-12-27T10:45:00.002-04:00

We got a White Christmas this year. It was really nice.

2011-12-22T00:20:00.003-04:00

Ever feel like you'd rather be anywhere else but here?

Milan Dreaming from Francesco Paciocco on Vimeo.

2011-12-21T11:30:00.000-04:00

Waitin' for some Christmas spirit...

2011-12-20T22:49:00.000-04:00

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on

But it don't snow here
It stays pretty green
I'm going to make a lot of money
Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on

'Tis the season to be jolly, yet I can't help but be in more of a Joni Mitchell kind of mood.

2011-12-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

2011-12-17T22:51:00.000-04:00

I should never

have stopped playing the cello.

Sometimes we need reminding

2011-12-14T20:20:00.000-04:00

Is it worrying that I identify strongly with this image?

2011-12-13T15:37:00.000-04:00

from my friend Tessa's blog.

2011-12-13T15:32:00.001-04:00

Heard this on the radio today and realized it should be my themesong.

2011-11-29T20:21:00.001-04:00

Time Travel

2011-11-23T16:19:00.001-04:00

One of the unique opportunities one has when living at home, is digging through old belongings. For me this includes a few miscellaneous boxes unearthed from the hoarders paradise that is my mother's basement.

One of the most amusing things I've come across is the portfolio from my Grade 9 Humanities class. Poems, projects and book reports all collected, each with its own explanation as to how it earned a spot in my portfolio. The real prize out of this collection is a paper entitled A Bunch of Thoughts that Could Pass for a Philosophy of Life. Yes, that is the title I deemed appropriate for an essay - and while we're at it I shall point out that I also deemed multi-coloured gel pens as perfectly apt for a professional looking Table of Contents. For family entertainment I performed a dramatic reading of this amazing piece of writing at the Thanksgiving table. Since it was so popular then, and since I have been urged by friends to post this hilarious and shockingly candid philosophy on this blog I now present to you a somewhat embarrassing yet ultimately amusing insight into the psyche of a 14 year-old Alex:

A Bunch of Thoughts that Could Pass for a Philosophy of Life

Alex

903

Humanities

March 2000

Where to start. I guess my main philosophy would be: try to live life as best as you can. I laugh a lot and try to have fun no matter what I am doing. I try not to let my temper get the best of me, although sometimes I give into my temper (it is probably best that you run away, far, far away, when this happens). And I try very hard not to hold grudges or hurt people's feelings.

My thinking time, when I reflect on the day and think of tomorrow and my future is before I go to sleep. I sit in the dark under my covers and I think about whatever comes to mind. Of course I usually forget the riveting debates that go on in my mind by the time I wake up the next day.

OK, issue number one: GOD. I believe in God, as some power that affects everything we do. I believe that God has a plan for each person and that everything happens for a reason.

DEATH. I think (this ties in with issue number one) that when you die, it is God's way of protecting us from some sort of horrible fate or happening that would happen to us if we stayed alive.I think that when you die, you go to a place where you come to terms with everything that has happened to you and you forgive yourself and others for sins they (or you) may have committed.

I think that you stay in this place until you have resolved everything, and if you can't come to terms with something you stay in this place forever. Once you have reached this "ultimate peace" you go to Heaven, and eventually go back to Earth as a different creature.

I, personally, want to return as a bird because I have always wanted to fly. If I had one wish, it would probably be the gift of flight. To be able to spread your wings and soar all day, high above the Earth, in the clouds, and bathing in the sun. There is a song (actually it is from a soap opera) that says, "I would fly on the wings of a bird if I knew it would take me higher." That's what I feel about that. I seem to have gotten a little off topic (oops). So anyway, when I sit in my room I sometimes wonder what if would feel like to die, or be dead.

The issue that is probable the most confusing to me is LOVE. OK, my original plan was to talk about how I don't think it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Now that I think about it, I don't know whether I actually feel that way. I think that love is a magical thing that happens that is indescribable even for the greatest poet and that if you have found that feeling then you have accomplished something that unfortunately not all people can. But to lose the one you love, to lose that feeling, must create a world that is empty beyond imagination. But if you lose the one you love, you can still continue to have that feeling but not have anyone to share it with. I find it all very confusing.

I think it is very important to have some sort of family. Of course, some of the time I wish I had no family at all - that they would just disappear and I could live by myself (and possibly with friends) in my house. But after this feeling of hatred towards my beloved family passes, I realize that I couldn't live without them.

A rather crazy and mixed up issue: me. Whenever I tell people my inner personality, they are surprised because they don't see me as that type of person. For example, I AM SHY. When I tell my friends this, they make a funny face or a weird noise or something and say, "but you're not!" I am though. It's kind of hard to describe but I'll give it a try. It takes a lot of effort to get to know me. I don't open up to people until I am comfortable with them. All my friends had to kind of force (not force, more like, try really hard) their friendship on me. I don't like calling people that I don't know. Other people may not either, but I make a big fuss about it. Whether it's a coach for a basketball team or a new babysitting client or whatever, I usually try to con someone else (mom) into calling them for me because her personality is the exact (well, maybe not exact, but pretty close to it) opposite of mine. My mom is the kind of person who will go back up to the counter at McDonalds and demand a new burger because she asked for mustard not mayo while I sit in my seat thinking, "It can't be that hard, mustard is the yellow one!" Then I'll try to discreetly scrape the mayo off. (Which, when eating McDonalds food, can be quite a tedious job!)

OK, anger and rage. I have a tendency to keep everything inside, from the small, little, annoying things to the really big, super-duper, frustrating things, and sometimes I forget to and I kind of blow up at whoever is closest and blame everything on them. (I have done this to my mother and have gotten in quite a lot of trouble, but let's not get into that.)

I don't know what else to say about myself (that's of any interest). Some people say that I am funny (or as my wonderful friend Jamila would put it, a comical being.) Hey! There's a topic!

I have a rather shall we say interesting group of friends. I wouldn't trade my friends for the world (maybe money, but not the world! Ha!). My friends are the people I turn to for advice or relief, often before my family. (Maybe that's because most of the time it's about my family). My friends have a big impact on my life. What sort of impact I don't know, but an impact.

There is a place just down the hill from my house that is my "place." I haven't been there in a while, but sometimes, when I get really angry or fed up I just walk out of the house and go down to Horseshoe Island and sit on the hill (or wharf in the summer) and think. Sometimes I don't think, which is good because often I think way too much.

My mom has this saying (I suppose it could be a philosophy) and she says, "I always try to be nice to people because it may be the last time I see them." I think this is very good and very true because we (humans) have created so much bad stuff that if you talk to someone it may very well be the last time you talk to them whether they get hit by a car, or kidnapped or whatever.

Oh! Personality thing! i tend to have these, um, urges, where I want to do something, or have something, and then I will do my very best to get that as fast as I possibly can, and if I don't, I feel very proud of myself, and if I don't, then I get disappointed.

I also don't think very much of myself. I don't know why not, nor do I know how to describe it really, I just kind of know I don't.

I DO NOT like change. I would much rather things stay the same because that would be so much easier and less stressful. For example, high school. I am pathetically scared of going to high school. It's so much bigger and different and I think, most importantly, it means that I have to think about the future. I have absolutely no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Well, not absolutely no idea, I have a whole bunch of ideas. In fact, I just can't seem to decide. I remember when I was little I wanted to be an astronaut and a ballerina, and I may very well end up being what I wanted to be when I was three years old.

That, I do believe is my PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE. (whew!)

This morning I am...

2011-11-06T09:20:00.000-04:00

Loving that I got an "extra hour" of sleep but shocked that the time change means that I am awake even earlier on a Sunday morning. (Sometimes I miss being able to sleep in)

Loving this post on 90s female R&B groups and (as always) this song:

Really happy that I wore my bright red lipstick last night and wishing it was a little less 'long wear'. Bright red lips seem much more appropriate for a Saturday night than a Sunday morning...

Drinking an entire pot of tea (mmmm tea...) Speaking of - I'm also totally digging these vintage tea ads:

2011-11-05T08:00:00.000-03:00

source

2011-11-04T20:00:00.000-03:00

source

2011-11-04T11:00:00.000-03:00

Spoons from CiaoChessa

Shout-out to this blog's namesake

2011-11-03T12:30:00.000-03:00

Gotta have a little "Alice" indeed.

via prettybooks

Quote of the Day

2011-11-02T23:03:00.003-03:00

Holy crap Aretha is fabulous.

2011-11-01T09:00:00.000-03:00

via theimpossiblecool

2011-10-31T17:48:00.000-03:00

My little sister shared this photo on my Facebook wall with the caption "I saw this and thought of you". Apparently my shoe obsession isn't as well concealed as previously thought.

Also- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Song for a Halloween Weekend

2011-10-28T08:06:00.000-03:00

I love that Canada has musicians as capable of writing an orchestral score as they are strumming a guitar.

2011-10-19T20:11:00.001-03:00

So I don't own an iPad, and I'm still not entirely sold on the Kindle BUT I want any [all] of these iPad/Kindle cases from JCrew.

Just sayin'.

2011-10-13T22:13:00.000-03:00

How does it feel

To be on your own

With no direction home

A complete unknown

Like a rolling stone?

2011-10-11T12:00:00.000-03:00

Holy Crap I want this Handbag.

2011-10-08T18:03:00.000-03:00

It's a Mulberry and thus costs more than my entire worth. Salivating over photos online is free though so this is what I shall continue to do. It's just soooo pretty and functional and autumnal and perfect.

2011-10-07T22:36:00.000-03:00

2011-10-06T21:54:00.001-03:00

I love everything about this website.

Color me envious

2011-10-05T22:29:00.003-03:00

Call me crazy but this living room is FABULOUS. Love the window treatment, the wall colour, the couches (the florals!!)

photo via design is mine

2011-10-04T22:53:00.000-03:00

When I came to bed I found a book lying on my pillow. It was the Complete Poems of Elizabeth Bishop and it was opened to a poem with a note from my mother saying read Sandpiper for a bedtime treat. So I did, and so I shall say to you.

Sandpiper

The roaring alongside he takes for granted,
and that every so often the world is bound to shake.
He runs, he runs to the south, finical, awkward,
in a state of controlled panic, a student of Blake.

The beach hisses like fat. On his left, a sheet
of interrupting water comes and goes
and glazes over his dark and brittle feet.
He runs, he runs straight through it, watching his toes.

--Watching, rather, the spaces of sand between them,
where (no detail too small) the Atlantic drains
rapidly backwards and downwards. As he runs,
he stares at the dragging grains.

The world is a mist. And then the world is
minute and vast and clear. The tide
is higher or lower. He couldn't tell you which,
His beak is focussed; he is preoccupied,

looking for something, something, something.
Poor bird, he is obsessed!
The millions of grains are black, white, tan, and gray,
mixed with quartz grains, rose and amethyst.

Goodnight.

I WANT EVERY SINGLE PIECE FROM THIS COLLECTION

2011-09-18T12:46:00.000-03:00

London Fashion Week: Jonathan Saunders spring/summer 2012 in pictures

Seriously though. I think I'm in love.

2011-09-17T23:40:00.000-03:00

Just finished dinner with the family - both related and extended - and now, for whatever reason, all I want to do is listen to this song...

2011-09-17T15:22:00.001-03:00

So here I am at home in Halifax.

Monday I made the decision to go, Tuesday I packed up my things, Wednesday night I boarded a plane and Thursday and Friday I seemingly stepped back in time as I worked at my old job.

I've hung around with my half-sister and my niece, I've barbecued on the back deck with my brother, I've walked through the Saturday Farmer's Market and eaten lobster rolls in the sun with a view of the Harbour with my mother and grandparents. It's good to be home.

Now that I'm here I'm confident that coming to Halifax was the right thing to do. I'm trying (for the moment, anyway) to ignore the ambiguity that awaits me upon my return to Toronto and to really listen to myself and what my heart wants to do.

Funny how life can change so fast...

Time to start packing...

2011-09-13T09:04:00.001-03:00

2011-09-13T08:00:00.000-03:00

2011-09-11T21:20:00.004-03:00

Kiiiiind of wish this was my bedroom...

via Gypsies Gold

Can't believe it's been a DECADE

2011-09-11T16:24:00.000-03:00

Photo from here

Excellent comic here

2011-09-08T12:16:00.000-03:00

via prettybooks

2011-09-07T09:00:00.000-03:00

Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.

Chinese Proverb

2011-09-06T11:39:00.001-03:00

It's not even fall and already the temperature of my apartment is such that I'm wearing sweatpants, fur-lined slippers and an over-sized hoodie. This does not bode well - neither for my fashion sensibility nor my internal body temperature.

Asylums are works of art.

2011-09-05T12:54:00.000-03:00

NPR turned me onto the work of Christopher Payne and the stunning photos he took of abandoned 19th century asylums for this book.

Blog as Journal: DUALISM

2011-09-05T02:23:00.000-03:00

Today I looked the word 'dualism' up in the dictionary. It's definition is largely theoretical, as in:

the doctrine that there are two independent divine beings or eternal principles, one good and the other evil.

but basically it means to be split in two. It is

the state of being dual or consisting of two parts

Now before you blow this post off as a [boring] vocabulary lesson may I explain that this is exactly how I've been feeling lately. Not the 'eternal existence of good and evil stuff', the 'division into two equal parts' stuff.

I am at conflict with myself and it is exhausting.

I've been in Toronto for about 20 months now, and lately I've been feeling like the city has let me down - or rather that I haven't stepped up to embrace the city and in doing so have let myself down. I moved here with visions of change and self-improvement and now realize that the only lesson I've learned since I got here is that changing one's location does not change one's situation. I feel like I am the exact same person I was when I came to Toronto - except with a considerably smaller bank account. The city has yet to swallow me whole but I fear that it has frightened me into stagnant submission. These feelings coupled with an extraordinarily difficult six months for several members of my family back in Halifax has lead to a true, desperate feeling of homesickness like I have never felt before in my life.

And so I struggle.

The part of me that knows that changing my address is a foolish way to change my life wrestles with the part that yearns for the simplicity of home.

The part of me that wants to focus on myself and my future argues with the part that wants to be there for the people I care about who may need help now.

Stay - Go

Fight - Retreat

Struggle - Surrender

Me - Them

Forwards - Backwards

Toronto - Halifax

All of these opposing words, and notions, and ideals, and expectations vacillate inside my head, heart and gut until I am confused, anxious, and lying awake at one o'clock in the morning on a Sunday night.

I don't write this to complain or cause alarm, or really to expect an answer. I just know that I can't be the only person split in two (theoretically, theologically, or hell, even psychologically) and maybe if I send these words out into the Clouds - for according to Google, that's where all of our information goes these days - the dual parts of me will be calmed for the evening so that I can get some rest.

dictionary source

2011-09-05T01:34:00.002-03:00

Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go;

it is the fragile blossom that blooms in the snow.

~Alice M. Swaim

I WANT THIS.

2011-08-31T00:02:00.000-03:00

It costs almost a month's rent.

...Typical.

2011-08-24T00:02:00.002-03:00

Kind of love everything about this. Wonder if I'll ever tire of Glee being EVERYWHERE

Is it wrong...

2011-08-23T19:25:00.002-03:00

...that I'm kind of getting excited for fall?

photo source

2011-08-22T13:03:00.002-03:00

The temperature has dropped a solid 15 degrees in the past two days here in Toronto. It's kind of nice - I can wear layers and my cute jean jacket, and walk around with out sweating, and most importantly my apartment is cool. (!!!) Like I'm wearing slippers and last night I went to bed without two fans going! Woah. I'm sure that the temperature will pop back up but these cool days are quite the reminder that fall is just around the corner...

2011-08-20T17:15:00.000-03:00

source

I'm obsessed with Anderson Cooper's giggle.

2011-08-19T09:27:00.001-03:00

It's amazing - cuter than a babies. Maybe I've watched this video 1 (3?) too many times...

Wishing I knew these people:

2011-08-03T00:50:00.001-03:00

2011-07-24T11:43:00.001-03:00

2011-07-19T14:01:00.005-03:00

I've been attempting to clean my house all morning. Kitchen and laundry are done, bathroom looms. Because I'm supposed to be cleaning I've (naturally) gotten distracted by my computer. First I spent too much time trying to figure out what the heck Google+ is all about, and now I'm organizing my Google Reader. (Now is when I would like to take the time to point out a prime example outlining my superb abilities as a procrastinator).

Aaaaanyway my point is, I was going through some blogs I haven't checked in a while including Daily Dose of Imagery which is a Toronto-based photography blog. I'm pretty sure the guy lives in my area because a lot of the photos seem to be in and around my 'hood....like this one that was taken OUTSIDE MY HOUSE.

Seriously! My neighbours were doing a little spring cleaning (or something) and one morning I walked out the door and passed this most-bizzare piece of art on my way to work. Weird when all of the sudden the internet becomes intimate...

What I made for dessert tonight.

2011-07-11T23:32:00.003-03:00

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!

Which is only my favourite dessert, and arguably the yummiest one. I have it every year on my birthday, which wasn't today but I didn't have any on my birthday so today I whipped up a batch of bisquits - from scratch..in 35 degree heat - cut up some local berries, made some REAL whipped cream, and then grinned from ear to ear the entire time I ate this bowlful of heaven. Ohmigosh it was just the greatest.

2011-07-04T16:27:00.003-03:00

Yesterday, leaving the chaos of Toronto Pride, my friends and I stumbled upon a rainbow-ensconced sun. One friend dubbed it "A Gay Miracle". We laughed, and Will took a picture.

2011-07-04T12:09:00.002-03:00

Watched 500 Days of Summer last night. OMG is that a cute movie. Also, I kind of forgot about his song, but I think it's perfect for a sunny summer Monday.

2011-07-04T12:06:00.003-03:00

Found this challenge over at Table Tonic... thinking of giving it a try, as I always feel like I don't take enough photos.

2011-06-21T11:03:00.004-03:00

photo source

I have the day off.

It's the first day of summer and it's sunny and 25 degrees.

I have things I should do, like go to ServiceOntario and renew my drivers licence, or exchange a blind at Ikea, but all I really want to do is sit in the sun and read my book.

Unproductivity is winning out.

My Monday Night looks like this:

2011-05-30T22:48:00.002-03:00

Sometimes when I'm home alone I like to indulge.

2011-05-27T22:09:00.001-03:00

found on Table Tonic

Just sayin'

2011-05-27T21:33:00.001-03:00

en·nui

–noun
a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom:

2011-05-25T21:19:00.002-03:00

I just spent 3 hours waiting for a plumber to arrive at my apartment to fix my leaky sink. He was here a sum total of 10 minutes.

*SIGH*

I spend a fair amount of (aka far too much) time hanging around my house, but tonight, when I had to hang around my house I couldn't stand it. Funny how that is...

I suppose all turned out for the best. My sink is fixed, and while waiting, my internet browsing brought me a new fun springtime jam:

2011-05-24T09:36:00.000-03:00

via model's own

Stories from Spain

2011-05-22T17:48:00.010-03:00

I'm going to try something rather rare for this blog - the standard 'text and photo' format. It's occurred to me that I spent three weeks in Spain and haven't really told too many people about how wonderful my trip was. I took a good 500 pictures while I was away, and I hate the idea of them just sitting on my hard drive not being shared. I also have a lot of stories. I carried this notebook with me everywhere I went for the duration of my trip and made time to write in it every day about my experiences.

So here's an excerpt from my messy little notebook - complete with photos!

Today's story: The Palm Sunday Parade

Today is the beginning of Semana Santa. Spain being religious as it is infamous for being, this meant a PALM SUNDAY PARADE.

Mom, who had been standing outside the house enjoying the afternoon sun noticed a group of 30 people walking down the street. This seemed unusual for the small quiet beach town we'd come to know so she and I ventured out to investigate. As soon as we got to the main road - Calle San Sebastien - we knew somehting was happening. EVERYONE who has ever lived in the town of Conil was coming out in droves. Infants in strollers, babes in arms, teenagers, parents, grandparents, all dressed in their Sunday best [how some of those women navigate the steep cobblestone streets in those 5 inch stilettos is mind boggling].

Children were being herded along, elderly were being pushed in wheelchairs, and everyone was chatting as Spaniards do: loudly.

Mom and I lined up with the rest of the town, amazed at the sheer number of people, their age range, dress styles and excited voices.

Soon young children (maybe ages 5-8) dressed in blue and white shepperd outfits (for lack of a term) carried palm fronds down the street. They lined the sides, their mothers and supervisors walking with them, dolling out tostados and snacks to reward good behaviour.

After a slight (unnecessary?) pause the older kids came next; dressed head-to-toe in red velvet, pulling their hoods down so they could see through the eye holes.

Then played in by a Marching Band was the crown of the Parade: a giant silver float carried on at least thirty of the town's fit men. Atop - Jesus waving on a donkey while Mary watched from behind, a tear down her cheek.

YSL in B&W

2011-05-21T14:59:00.001-03:00

via Impossible Cool

2011-05-18T09:20:00.001-03:00

via French by Design