The Pale and Pallor Princess

Quit throwing virgins into the volcano: Sacrificing Celebrities

2011-08-30T16:23:00.004-04:00

Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse. Each of these women has helped sell millions of tabloid magazines; the issues that usually sell the best are the ones that celebrate their misery.
There's nothing we like better than to see these women taken down. We laugh, watch and read with morbid curiosity as each young woman spirals into self-destruction--look at her cry, look at her stumble, look at her fall apart. Jealousy often fuels our curiosity and binds our attention; the celebrity of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian compel us to ask, "Why are they rich and famous? They’ve never done anything useful."
Amy Winehouse was incredibly talented, but that didn't stop us from taking pleasure in her fall from grace.

Society punishes these young women. They didn't start out as train wrecks; we pushed them to be that way. Many of the young girls we relish being ripped apart the most started out as the most innocent.
The latest trend is figuring out which former young Disney star will fall down next. Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus all started out with squeaky-clean, wholesome images. We push them to be adults before they're ready, and then punish them when they're not. We love sacrificing virgins to the volcano.

I can probably remember every mean thing ever said to me. I can think of specific insults that crumbled my self-esteem. Why do we think that all the insults heaped upon these young women won't hurt them? We convince ourselves that our hate is all in good fun.

If a starlet is told enough times that she's stupid, she's a slut, she's not in control, she's going to start to believe it. Combine that with constant media pressure and attention, and it's no wonder they break. Some of them have tried to play the game, use the attention to their advantage; Paris Hilton is probably the best example of this. As a result she's probably one of the most hated.

It's a slippery slope, to keep our attention they need to play into our caricatures of them. They get more attention when they seem unintelligent, vain, drunk, vapid. Like unloved, unnoticed children, they act out; they seek any attention, even if it's negative.

We pay the most attention when they hit rock bottom. We're giddy with excitement when Paris Hilton cries on her way to jail; when Britney Spears shaves off all her hair and attacks the paparazzi with an umbrella; when Lindsay Lohan is caught shoplifting. Their pain provides us deep pleasure.

Though male celebrities also get dragged through the media mud, we're not as harsh on them. Mel Gibson has hate piled on him for beating and threatening his ex-wife and for making drunken anti-Semitic remarks. Still, the phrase 'I hate Paris Hilton' gets 21,400,000 results on Google, whereas 'I hate Mel Gibson' gets just 9,830,000.

Many people hate Justin Bieber, but he’s not on the receiving end of the same public execution mentality that young female celebs face. Most of the hate towards him is because he's not 'macho' enough. How many 'Justin Bieber looks like a girl' jokes and comments have you personally heard?

Few people seem to notice the connection between the hate of these young women and the hate of women in general. For us women, by hating these young girls, we hate ourselves. We're too busy cutting them and each other apart to notice what's really happening in the world. We spend so much energy hating Kim Kardashian that we don't notice women getting paid less, getting beaten, getting raped. We don't notice the environment falling apart. We don't notice the rich getting richer, while we work harder to make ends meet. Hating celebrities makes it easier to hate girls at school that are prettier, hate other women at work that are more successful, easier to hate each other and hate ourselves. “Feminism provided the culture to admire women for their qualities, not their visual appearance,” said the psychologist Jacqui Marson, “now the whole celebrity-magazine culture has given us permission to direct our gaze at women’s minute physical flaws and choices, and to pick them apart. There has been a big shift, and the feeling of sisterhood we used to have doesn’t exist anymore.”

Hate can be a terrible thing, it can also push us to fight for what's right. Hate racism, hate oppression, hate sexism, hate cruelty, hate homophobia. You don't have to love Kim Kardashian, but hating her isn't helping her or society, and it certainly isn’t helping yourself.

Trick or Treat? Girls halloween costumes vs. Boys Halloween Costumes

2011-08-30T01:44:00.001-04:00

I was at the mall today and while at Winners, noticed two racks of children's Halloween costumes. Though one could argue that children could choose from either rack, they were fairly obviously divided between boys costumes and girl costumes.

Boys could be soldiers, firemen, astronauts or bikers. Girls could be princesses, or fairy princesses or characters from fairy tales.

Children should be able to use their imaginations and be whatever they want to be. Girls should be given more choices then pretty, cute or beautiful and boys should have more choices then macho, strong or tough.

Amazon Princess

2011-08-29T21:54:00.001-04:00

You may notice some posts will now have links to Amazon. Two of my passions are reading and watching movies, so from time to time I may quote or recommend them. Previously, I had the usual Blogger Ads on the side bar, but I found they were usually incredibly unrelated to what I was actually posting about and in the year or so I've been running this blog I'd earned a whopping $5.63 with them. Figured I'd give this Amazon doo-dad a try. Partly so I can become filthy rich and give up my day job, but more realistically because I'll only recommend thing I legitimately like and this way if you're interested you can easily find and acquire them.

Milk, it does the body good. Girls self esteem? Not so much.

2011-08-29T14:29:00.001-04:00

I'm sure you're all thinking the same thing I'm thinking, how do I get that awesome snake hair? Well either that, or why in this day and age is there an ad with a princess that's too ugly to be married, that needs to be saved by a man who "conquers her love" by taming her unruly hair and lives happily ever after now that she's married to this man that didn't love her the way she was. Also note the use of "good hair" It couldn't be snakeless and still curly, it had to be straight shiny, white girl, western beauty ideal type hair.

Beauty through the ages

2011-08-28T14:12:00.008-04:00

I've been looking at images of women's bodies through time and how beauty standards have changed. Over the last 100 years or so the "ideal beauty" has become much more unattainable for the average woman.
In her book The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls, Joan Jacobs Brumberg argues that increased access to mirrors in the 1800s helped spur middle-class Victorian obsessions with the body.
Now add in images from magazines, the internet and television and you have the perfect recipe for creating insecurity in girls and women. The cosmetics, plastic surgery and diet industries spend millions of dollars each year convincing us that our bodies aren't good enough. “You never see the photograph of a woman, considered beautiful, that hasn’t been digitally altered to make her absolutely, inhumanly perfect. Girls are being encouraged to achieve that ideal at younger and younger ages all the time. They end up measuring themselves against an impossible standard and feeling themselves wanting as a result.” — Jean Kilbourne
Throughout most of history, round bodies with hips and curves were considered beautiful. Still not all women met this standard of beauty, but it was much more representative of the average woman. Now beautiful is considered to be a size zero, ideally along with large breasts, a combination rarely seen naturally. I highly recommend Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth, for anyone who hasn't read it. It goes much deeper into this. I find looking at art and early photography I can see myself in the women depicted, I can appreciate their beauty and my own. The modern idea of beauty usually just makes me feel bad about myself because it's so unattainable and so far removed from how I look.

Trash smash: My fashion design won!

2011-08-22T23:33:00.006-04:00

Some of you may remember that last year I partook in Barrie Eco-Fests Trash Fusion contest, where contestants create a garment made of garbage. I worked with friends from work and we created a dress made out of Tim Horton's coffee cups and plastic grocery bags that I designed. (Shown above) We had great time putting it together, but didn't place. We decided to take another stab at it this year and I designed a dress made of broken glass wired together. It took hours and hours of work and ended up weighing about 60 pounds. We literally finished it the morning of the show and wired our model into it. I'm proud to say that this year we took first place.

Learning to love my hair

2011-08-22T15:51:00.011-04:00

As you can probably guess by the pictures that I have posted, I'm not referring to the hair on my head. I'm referring to that obscenely unfeminine hair on our bodies that we feel compelled to shave, wax, laser, tweeze and depillitate off. Back in grade seven, I was sitting in my school's library and one of my male class mate's commented "wow, you have really hairy arms". Those seven words started a 15 year downward spiral of hating my arms. Many people don't realize how much girls (especially young ones that just started puberty) take critique about their bodies to heart. A short time later, I begun shaving my arms. If not freshly shaven every couple days, I'd get prickly hairs sprouting. I was just as ashamed about shaving my arms as I was about them 'being hairy'. About a year ago I finally stopped shaving them. I was very self conscious as the hair began to poke out from my skin. It was prickly, it seemed dark and coarse. I fought myself not to give up and just start the cycle again. I bleached the hair, so it wasn't as noticeable growing in. Roughly twelve months later now, my arms are back to normal. I can now acknowledge that they are normal. I'm human, humans have body hair. I don't even have an excessive amount of it. I spent years hating something that wasn't even real. The same time I started letting my arm hair go natural, I stopped shaving my arm pits too. *Gasp* I've only shaved once in the last 12 months. Most of the time, instead of feeling ashamed like I thought I would, I feel rebellious. There are moments I let negativity get to me though. After spending a hot day walking around, I was feeling hot and sweaty, so informed my friend that I planned on showering once I got back to her place. Her response was 'you wouldn't get so stinky if you shaved there' - looking to my arm pits. I gave serious thought to shaving again after that. I find that other women are often the greatest participators in policing what feminity is supposed to be. Ever noticed that the biggest insult you can give a man is to call him feminine? That guy's a pussy, he's acting like a girl, he's a sissy. As well, one of the worst insults to a woman is that she's butch, she's not feminine, she's hairy. Why is there this need by society to stick to these self constructed gender roles?

Yes, I'm an angry feminist.

2011-08-22T15:07:00.003-04:00

Though many women recognize that the world is neither fair nor equal, many women hesitate to call themselves feminists. Feminists are viewed by many as hairy, man hating, bra-burners. As a teenager I referred to myself as an Equalist because it sounded nicer. Over the years I've come to embrace the term feminist, but still for a long time avoided from raising my feminist voice too loudly. I didn't want people to see me as an angry feminist. Today, I stand up and proudly declare myself an angry feminist. I'm angry that as many as one in three women are sexually assaulted, I'm angry that women still only make 77% of what men do in the Western World and far less then that in much the rest of the world. I'm angry that I've spent so much of my life worrying about whether I'm pretty enough or berating myself for not being thin enough. I'm angry about how women are portrayed in the media. I'm angry that while taking a walk with my boyfriend at night, guys driving by feel compelled to yell at me "Cunt". I'm angry that women have acid thrown at them for trying to get an education. I'm angry that they're killed by their male relatives for getting raped and bringing dishonour on their families. I'm pissed right off and with good reason. Yes-I'm a feminist, yes-I'm an angry feminist, yes-I don't shave my armpits. However, I don't hate men. I hate what society has done to men. Men are not the enemy, they're the other half of humanity. We need to work with them if we want to get anywhere. So, instead of directing that anger at men, I'll try to use that anger as fuel for achieving good in the world. Canada lost a great man today, in a final letter to the nation he said ""My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world."

Thank goodness for Photoshop!

2011-02-09T00:33:00.003-05:00

Recently I've been playing a fun game when reading fashion magazines. I like to call it "which celebrity is that supposed to be?" They look somewhat familiar, but it takes me a minute to put my finger on it sometimes. "Oh, that's supposed to be Julianne Moore" I exclaim upon finally figuring it out. Thanks to the miracle of Photoshop I can now compare my self to people that aren't even real instead of mere mortals like models and celebrities. With the constant strive to make women look younger and thinner, it's amazing they haven't just started using 6 year olds. Oh wait, they have.

Myself, a work in progress.

2011-01-18T14:48:00.007-05:00

Good news, I wasn't eaten by a carnivorous giraffe or anything horrible, just haven't been in a blogging mood in quite some time. I originally started this as a Fashion Blog, or a "Me twirling around in pretty dresses blog" but it seems to of moved away from that. I haven't posted anything at all in months, but even going through the posts I had before my extended absence, I wasn't concentrating on fashion very much then. I still admire pretty things and enjoy seeing who's a fashion hit or fashion miss and such, but haven't been putting in as much effort to my own apparel as I used to. I haven't resorted to wearing Crocs and elastic waist sweat pants or anything that obscene, but my daily uniform is usually jeans and a sweater or something along those lines. I think the reason I started blogging was that I was looking for some kind of way to connect to people. (lol, or maybe even more so, as a way to be validated and complimented.) I called out into the dark vastness of the internet and actually heard something back. The best part is that I heard back from voices all over the world. I started this blog at a strange time in my life. My marriage of 6 years was dissolving and then ended. Besides being a way to connect with people, it also provided a much needed distraction. I was talking last night with someone about how we change and evolve with time. How you have memories of times long before, but despite them being your own memories they feel like they're almost of someone else. You no longer feel like the same person you once were. I feel like a different person then I was when I first started this blog. Some things remain the same, I still have the same best friends I've had since childhood, I still like shopping for secondhand junk, I still like sad movies. Some things have changed a lot, I've developed a dark and lurid addiction to sushi, I've started enjoying watching awful movies (The Room, Troll 2 and Mega Piranha are among the best of the worst) and have fallen in love again. I feel like I'm not the person I used to be, but haven't quite figured out who she's been replaced with. It's not necessarily a bad thing, I wasn't happy as the person I used to be, just sometimes a perplexing thing. I've tried to make this blog a reflection of myself, so if it's to continue doing so, it won't really concentrate on fashion any longer. I'm sure I'll still be fairly narcissistic and post a lot of pictures of myself. However, it'll probably be a bit more about figuring out who I am. A kind of journal of my thoughts and things I feel compelled to share. I'm glad to have passengers on the journey, but should probably caution you that I have no idea where we're going.

What I won't be wearing this spring

2010-09-22T11:47:00.005-04:00

Style is definitely a matter of taste. Some people may look at the above outfits and think "what clean modern minimalism" I look at them and try to surpress a yawn. There is absolutely nothing that inspires any joy or interest in me. I can only imagine myself in clothes like these in some kind of post apocaliptic world, where I spend my days wandering the desert looking for scraps of food. Clothes should embrace and enhance a woman's body. Women have breasts and hips, but you wouldn't know it looking at these pictures. In these outfits the profession models barely look attractive. How are us mere mortals ever supposed to wear these?

What I'll be wearing this Spring

2010-09-16T22:56:00.004-04:00

The kiddies are back in school, the weather's getting colder and the days getting shorter. That can only mean one thing- Spring Fashion. Sure we're only starting to break out the sweaters now, but we need something to get us through the long cold winter, so we'll look ahead to Spring. I recently attended New York Fashion week (and by attended I mean browsed through pictures on my laptop at home while wearing a bathrobe) and have decided come spring I'm going to incorporate a lot more ballgowns into my wardrobe. Though I don't attend many balls, my workplace has a fairly liberal dress code, so I'm thinking I'll take to wearing my fancy frocks at the office. Of course my pretty dresses may get creased if I try and sit in them for 8 hours at a desk, so I may have to hire someone to sit and actually do my work for me. I'll just stand nearby overseeing their work and looking glamorous. Hmm..on second thought standing around for 8 hours may get a little boring, so I think I'll need to hire some puppeteers to entertain me. They can reenact scenes from the movie "The Room". Of course this all these ballgowns and hired help will eat up a lot of my paycheck, but dammit I'll look smashing!

A horse with no name

2010-09-07T12:16:00.005-04:00

Been living out of a backpack most of the time lately, therefore not dressing very fancy. (I haven't become homeless or anything, just spending a lot of time at the BF's and friend's houses lately) I find during the summer I dress a lot more casually. This summer especially's been so hot, my main priority when getting dressed is staying cool and comfy. The weather's cooling down now though, so it's easier to mix up my looks with cardigans, jackets, tights and such. Fall always renews my interest in fashion. Unlike most of the world, which seems to come alive in the spring, fall is when the fashion world blooms.
For now, thought I'd post some pics from last week's Fake Prom that I attended, the theme was The Old Wild West. I figured most gals would be going cowgirl, so I decided to dress up like a Native. (If you're looking for a Halloween costume, I got some of my stuff from http://www.costumecraze.com/, prices are decent and they have a fairly good selection) My friend Marie decided on the ol' saloon girl look and looked quite fab.

Sex(ism) sells

2010-07-28T23:51:00.003-04:00

I was catching up on some blog reading when I saw a posting of these videos on Weesha's blog: http://www.weeshasworld.com/
(It's actually all one long video broken up into smaller segments)
Really eye opening, I really reccomend watching it.

Killing us softly - Advertising image of women part 1

2010-07-28T23:50:00.000-04:00

Killing us softly - Advertising image of women Part 2.

2010-07-28T23:49:00.000-04:00

Killing us softly - Advertising image of women Part 3

2010-07-28T23:48:00.001-04:00

Killing us softly - Advertising image of women Part 4.

2010-07-28T23:48:00.000-04:00

A rose by any other name

2010-07-27T23:49:00.003-04:00

In a kinda pensive mood tonight. I've been happy in general lately, but every once in awhile I feel a little lost almost. Think it's just because there have been so many changes in my life lately. Most of them have been good, some of them have been great, but still humans are creatures of habit, so any change can throw us off a bit.
One of the things on my mind lately has been trying to figure out what to do with my last name. It seems like a silly thing to worry over, but your name is a big part of you. It's what labels you and help define you. Being a surname orphan is a strange feeling. For now I've still been using The Grumpy Danish's name. It's been my name for the last 6 years now. My dad and I get along, but aren't all that close, so I don't think I want to go back to my maiden name. It seems strange that I need to choose someone else's name to define myself. I need to attach someone else to myself to be whole. It doesn't necessasarily need to be a man's name, but it's funny that men don't usually have this problem. They are who they are and rarely let someone else redefine them in the same way that women do.

Summertime and the living is easy

2010-07-26T21:24:00.003-04:00

Hello all! Just a quick post to say hello. Bowie says hi too.
Enjoying summer, spent yesterday swimming, eating sushi and hanging out with my favourite people.
Outfit today is:
Dress: Society, buying wearing this one so often, best $20 I spent all summer.
Shoes: Winners
Belt: Laura

How to decorate your home like a mature sophisticated adult Part 2

2010-07-13T23:26:00.005-04:00

Once Upon a time in a land far far away, there was a beautiful princess that used to post regularly on her blog. One day the princess brought home a kitten that seemed sweet and cuddly. Little did the princess realize that it was an evil kitty. The evil kitty was jealous of the princesses attention to her blog so took to curling up on her laptop so that the princess was helpless to post regularly.
Not buying it? Ok ok, I haven't posted in forever. Miss me?
STILL working on unpacking (there may be a fair bit of procrastination involved) But otherwise life's been great lately. Ran around my apartment snapping a few more pictures so I'd have something to post. Figured I'd include a few more helpful decorating tips.
1. Unpacking boxes is overrated. Boxes make handy storage devices. Time is obviously better spent hanging pictures and doing other essential type things.
2. Colour schemes are for the uncreative. If nothing matches, everything will match. Kinda.
3. For a very sophisticated and elegant look, try to ensure you have as many decorations with faces as possible. Anything cartoonish and childlike is ideal.
4. Killed off the plants you were keeping on your balcony? Buy new ones, no one will be the wiser.
5. Can't afford modern art? Hang paintings you did when you were in preschhol. (Hmm..possibly learn to spell preschool while you're at it) Don't have fancy picture frames? Use tape to secure paintings to wall. Hanging straight is completely optional.

Ground Control to Major Tom

2010-07-01T19:20:00.003-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you: Captain Bowie Waffles. a.k.a. Bowie for short. Unfortunately my other cat, Tinkerbell the manly cat, is used to living a rugged outdoorsy life, so I couldn't really bring him with me to the new apartment. He'll be residing with my mom and brother. I was missing a feline presence in my life and stopped by the pet store a few times recently. Each time I stopped by this little rascal captivated me. After visiting her for the third time I decided to bring her home with me. She's now curled up on my lap as I write this post. I'll return soon with some more outfit posts. I've been slacking lately and most of my stuff is still in boxes. Hope everyone's Thursday is treating them well and Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks! I'm off to see some fireworks now.

How to decorate your home like a mature sophisticated adult.

2010-06-21T20:31:00.005-04:00

So I arrived home from work today, opened the door to my apartment and was quite surprised to discover a fluffy black cat. Then I looked up and saw a table I'd never seen before. Looked around a bit more...where'd all this crap come from? It took a few seconds...yup I walked into the wrong apartment. Apparently I'm not entirely settled in yet.
I have a disturbing amount of stuff so I think getting unpacked and organized will take awhile. I've been trying to spend a bit of time each day making the new place feel like home. My method for decorating the apartment is: Buy old stuff from antique malls, Goodwill and Value Village. Also accept donations of second hand old stuff. Mix in with new stuff (such as picture frames, plant pots and plastic dinosaurs) from the dollar store. Paint, frame, hang and/or display stuff.
Ta-Dah!

Food Porn

2010-06-19T21:40:00.006-04:00

I was going to show off some pictures of the new apartment, but forgot my memory card at the old apartment, so you get to make do with me talking about food. I went grocery shopping at the Walmart in town today for the first time. It made me sad (and not only because the woman in front of me in line was buying elastic waisted pleated shorts and pastel coloured golf shirts for herself) Walmart doesn't seem to really sell food. It sells products in packages and boxes of things that you can eat, but I can't actually call it food. Some people may find it strange, but I enjoy grocery shopping. Back in the days before the Grumpy Danish I'd spend at least a good hour at the grocery store wandering up and down the aisles finding new wonderful things. (Grocery shopping with the Grumpy Danish was usually more along the lines of bickering and grabbing whatever was quick to make) Even better then regular grocery stores are ethnic grocery stores. I've wandered through giant Chinese grocery stores, Russian grocery stores, Armenian, Arabic and Dutch grocery stores. You never know if you're going to be delighted, confused, surprised or hungry. Also fun are markets like the St Lawrence market in Toronto, local farmers markets and specialty stores like bakeries. I love the smells and the sights. The whole atmosphere is so different, that's what food should be about. Walmart is convenient and cheap and probably serves some people quite well. I'll probably shop there on occassion, but I'll be wishing I was shopping for real food the whole time.

Trashy Fashion

2010-06-14T22:13:00.004-04:00

At long last months of braiding plastic bags together and cutting up coffee cups paid off. I present to you the Trash Dress! We were up against some tough competition, a lot of the other entries were designed by people with clothing lines or attending college for design. We didn't end up winning, but we celebrated like we did anyways. I'm really happy with how it turned out and had a blast putting it together. The people I worked with are amazing people and awesome friends :)
The dress is 95% garbage, we just used some wire, glue and velcro to hold it together. The jewelery I made out of broken glass found in a parking lot and wire.

Eat your heart out Karl Lagerfeld

2010-06-08T11:58:00.003-04:00

It's not finished yet, but here's a sneak peak at the dress so far, still needs to be fitted a bit more and we need to add more layers of cups (it'll be going down to the floor like a ball gown) Our model wasn't there for a couple days, but fortunatley we had Tom whose young girlish figure makes a perfect substitute. lol.

Just another manic Monday

2010-06-07T22:28:00.002-04:00

G'day all, just a quick post to show of my OOTD. Been hard at work on the trash dress and it's sooo close to being done. The competition's Saturday and looks like we might actually finish on time. Woo-hoo! I'll be sure to post some pics soon. My pencil skirts were feeling quite neglected, so I decided to bring one out to play.
Outfit today:
Pencil skirt: Ricki's
Tank: Joe Fresh
Cardigan: Reitmans
Stockings: Forever 21
Shoes: Costa Blanca
Necklace: Aldo's

Seperation anxiety

2010-06-06T22:27:00.004-04:00

Know what's a great way to avoid packing? Blogging about packing instead. Packing is much like cleaning, It's neven been one of my strong points. I always manage to find something that's more interesting to do (and pretty much anything is more interesting then packing or cleaning) I worked on packing some of my jewelery and purses today. Last count I had 60 or so purses (last count was also a couple years ago) I've never even attempted to count my jewelery. I won't be unpacking them for another two weeks, so trying narrow down a few pieces to do me in the mean time is increadibly difficult. I like choice. At any given time I carry at least 3 different lipsticks in my purse, so that I can change it up if I feel like it. How am I possibly supposed to know which pieces of jewelery I'll want to wear ahead of time for the next two weeks?
:(
allright allright, off to go do some packing.
(maybe)

Heart of Glass

2010-06-05T23:39:00.002-04:00

So good news, I didn't decapitate myself today! The necklace I'm wearing here I Macgyvered together using wire, a grocery bag and pieces of broken glass I found on the ground in Toronto. I'm going to use it as part of my Trash-dress outfit. I figured I'd guinea pig myself and try wearing it for a day before subjecting the poor model to it. I got one small cut on my finger while putting it together, but otherwise I'm safe and sound. I went and saw the movie 'Splice' tonight, pretty good. It features the ever lovely Sarah Polley. I love her because she has some serious spunk. She's turned down a lot of mainstream roles to do her own thing, She once chipped a tooth at a rowdy protest, she's directed her own film ('Away from her', very good) and is about to direct her second and once accepted a movie role soley because "she got to fuck a troll" (her words, not mine) I wish there were more actresses like her.
Like the flower clutched in my teeth picture? lol, I look like a deranged tango dancer.
Hope y'all are having a good weekend so far!

Paper Airplanes

2010-06-04T02:12:00.003-04:00

I've had traveling on the mind lately. Growing up I'd spend hours looking at maps and pictures of far away places dreaming of all the exotic trips I'd take. As they say, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans and I've never gotten around to very much traveling. Up until last year I'd only been to one other province in Canada and a dozen or so states in the US. I made it my goal last year to make it to another country. I ended up traveling to Cuba with my best fiend and actually had so much fun that I returned with the Grumpy Danish a few months later. Cuba's a great mix of relaxing lying on the beach and culture. I think visiting Havana was my favourite part of the trip both times. Havana is this beautiful tragedy. A long time ago they started to build a beautiful city. Time, poverty and the sea have corroded and tarnished so much, but in a way make it even more hauntingly beautiful.
My goal this year is to make it to another continent. Time and money aren't on my side, I'm only going to have about a week of vacation in October to work with. I'm pretty stubborn though, even if I can only spend a weekend somewhere, I'll do it.
Now I just have to figure out where. Any suggestions?

Procrastinating is such sweet sorrow

2010-06-01T22:38:00.003-04:00

So someone forgot to set the alarm this morning and had to rush to get ready. I had a much more interesting outfit planned, but I couldn't find the shirt I was looking for, then couldn't find the belt I was looking for and ended up giving up on the whole thing. So instead you get to see my polka dot dress again. I started the day out with my Forever 21 bird necklace, but felt like I was lacking colour on such a bright sunny day, so swapped it for this wooden beaded necklace I made. (lol, yes I'm clothed in the picture showing the necklace, the dress is strapless) I also included a picture of my lovely photographer today: my mama. I loved the dress she was wearing today.
I'm now moving in less then 15 days. I've packed 3 dresses. That is all. Oh dear, this could be a problem. I should probably go do some packing right now, but I get the feeling that probably won't happen.
Outfit:
Dress: Clothing swap 2009
Jacket: Addition Elle
Shoes: Winners
Stockings & Bird Necklace: Forever 21
Coloured bead necklace: Made by me

The princess on Facebook

2010-06-01T08:38:00.002-04:00

Just a reminder that you can now follow the Pale and Pallor Princess on Facebook.
A lot of you have joined already, thanks :)
If there's anyone that wants to add me as a friend personally that's cool too. I know some people like to keep their blog separate, but I'm probably closer to some of you then half the people from Highschool that I have on there, lol.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/The-Pale-Pallor-Princess/117593314944158?ref=mf
Happy Tuesday everyone!

New Do

2010-05-31T21:42:00.003-04:00

The mop was getting a little long, so out came the scissors. Think I may of gone a little too short, but my hair grows back pretty quickly, so within a month or so I should be back to my shaggy do.
Nothing much exciting to talk about today, just a quick outfit post to make Monday a little less dreary.
Dress is another find from Goodwill
Shoes: Zellers
Stockings: Icing
Hat: Joe Fresh
Earrings: Le Chateau

My last weekend of freedom

2010-05-30T22:56:00.002-04:00

This weekend was my last weekend off before I get stuck working weekends from now until the end of time. I decided to make the most of it. Yesterday I volunteered at a Ride for Dad Motorcycle ride for prostate cancer. I got to hang put with 700 leather clad bikers for about an hour and a half, it's not my usual crowd, but it was actually pretty fun. Like a mature and responsible adult I made sure to show up early (so that I could play on the swings) Next I headed over to my friends house for a dip in the pool. We then went out for sushi and a movie. We saw McGruber, which was actually pretty funny. Afterwords we headed down to the beach for a walk and there was a fair, so we ate some greasy fair food and my friend won me this wonderful superman. I actually wanted the most adorable blow up giraffe, but a little girl won it before us. (brat) However, I think he may make a suitable new boyfriend. He's cute and athletic and doesn't talk back. And if he really annoys me I can easily off him with a thumbtack.
Today I slept in till noon and then went for a nice drive in the country and then met up with some friends to see the Sex and the City movie (not as horrible as I thought it might be, don't know if I can actually say it's good)
Hope you all had a good weekend.
Outfit today:
Dress: Goodwill, it's a little big so I belt it, I may get around to taking it in some day (but probably not)
Sandals: Le Chateau
Necklace: Suzy Shier
Purse: Vintage from Value Village

Open for business

2010-05-28T23:05:00.002-04:00

My etsy store is open! Visit it at http://www.thepaleandpallorprincess.com/
I've also got a facebook page: The Pale Pallor Princess for the store & my blog together. I haven't had a whole lot of time for blogging (posting or reading) over the last week. Going to be moving in a couple weeks, trying to finish off the trash-dress for the contest, trying to figure out this whole how to date thing and launching my etsy store. I need a nap. Most of it seems to be coming together though. Except for the moving part, I haven't even started packing.
I'm a little late announcing it, but the long awaited winner of my giveaway for the necklace made by me is: Beth! leave me a comment with your info and I'll get it sent out as soon as I can. Thanks everyone for entering!
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The hardest button to button

2010-05-26T22:53:00.002-04:00

Hello my lovlies. Happy hump day! lol, though not much humping for since I became newley single. Working to rectify that though, I just signed up for an online dating site. I'm not looking to jump into anything right away, more just curious to see what's out there. How do you guys feel about online dating? I kind of feel like it's a necessasary evil. I don't go out to bars or clubs often (and when I do tend to find a lack of quality potential mates most times) so meeting new people can be a little tricky. Outfit today wasn't overly fancy, it features a couple new additions from my weekend shopping trip though. The skirt I found at a thrift store (think it's originally from Sears) the stockings were from Value Village (they're new, second hand stockings would be a little icky) and the earrings are made of some of the buttons I found at the vintage store. Rest of the outfit is:
T-shirt: clothing swap, it's GAP (lol, and apparently a little see-through when taking pictures with flash)
Shoes: Zellers
Necklaces: the round beads I got awhile ago from Value Village & the other one's from a store in Toronto called Fashion crimes. I often wear them together.
I don't think I'm loving this T-shirt with the skirt, but I was a little pressed for time this morning and anything else I found was waaay too hot. It's crazy warm here right now, warmer then Hawaii and L.A. What the frick? Guess that's what I get for complaining about the snow a couple weekends ago.

This little Princess went to market.

2010-05-24T21:49:00.017-04:00

To make up for 27 days of wearing dresses straight, I'll now be wearing pants for 27 days. lol, nah, not really. But I've been fully taking advantage and wearing them the last couple days. Today's pictures were actually taken yesterday. I spent the day shopping with my mama. I included pictures of some of my finds from thrift shopping. I also scored a couple dresses, shoes and some jewelery, but I'll hold of on showing you everything in one post, or I'll have nothing left post about later. As you can see, I managed to find some new fishnets in pretty summer colours. I still want to find some yellow ones, I may have to give in and place an order to We Love Colours. The pantyhose pictured, I have no intention of wearing. I just thought the package was really cool. I found an old childrens book full of these awesome illustrations. I plan on taking some of them out and framing them to decorate my apartment. The recipe cards I'm also going to frame and put up in the kitchen. I want to do a kind of retro feel for the kitchen, so fondue recipe cards are perfect. The slightly offensive rum bottle will also be displayed in the kitchen.
I also included a picture of Kensington market in Toronto and Chinatown. They're right next to each other and two of the coolest places in town. Kensington market is this eclectic neighbourhood full of vintage clothing stores, fruit stalls, cheese shops, hippies and coffee shops. The houses and buildings are painted wonderfully bright and clashing colours. The store in the photo is my favourite store there, called Courage my Love. It's a vintage shop that's been there since the 70's. You can find the amazing things inside from old hats and purses, to buttons and beads to Mexican wrestling masks. I managed to spend $25 on old buttons from the 40's that I plan on making into earrings.
The outfit features one of my favourite shirts. I bought it last summer and nearly wore it to death. It's been ressurected to see me through another summer. The necklace is the beauty I talked about in my post yesterday. It's H&M at it's best. A lot of the time their jewelery makes me yawn, but then every once in awhile, they come out with a piece like this.
Outfit:
shirt: Winners
Jeans: Reitmans
Shoes: Urban Planet
Necklace: H&M
Purse: Value Village. (I actually bought it yesterday and changed purses because it matched my outfit better. Halfway through the day I managed to bust the zipper on it and then towards the end of the day the strap broke off. lol, might not of been the amazing deal I thought it was originally)

The princess's hiking wardrobe

2010-05-23T22:19:00.006-04:00

The shirt pictured here is what I wore hiking last summer. My friend from work found this hilarious, especially as it was paired with dangly gold earrings. I see nothing wrong with this as a hiking wardrobe. I mean I wore running shoes, not heals. But just because I'm in the woods, doesn't mean I have to start wearing a flannel plaid shirt. The top pictures are from a trip the Grumpy Danish and I took last summer. We spent a weekend in a town called Owen Sound, which is actually where I was born. There's some really beautiful waterfalls and forrests in the area that are great for hiking. The first day I was running through the woods and leaping from rock to rock like a little billy goat. I was feeling great, so alive. lol, the next day I woke up and was barely able to walk. I may of overdone it a little bit. I also got barely any sleep. We decided it would be funny to stay in the sleaziest motel possible. It wasn't quite as funny at 4 am when our neighbours for the night were still drinking and LOUDLY partying. (although it was kinda funny when I grossed out the Grumpy Danish by wondering out loud if hookers had previously used our bed) The next morning when checking out we decided we needed to get my picture on the lovely bear outside the motel. Climbing ontop was quite the feat, especially considoring how sore I was. Unfotuntely the only photo I could find of me wearing my lovley hiking shirt also nicely highlights my severe need for a dye job, lol, so please don't spend too much time looking at that picture. The pictures at the bottom were taken yesterday. After getting home from shopping I changed into jeans. You're getting a rare glimpse of the royal family. Pictured with me are my mom and my brother and in one picture my grandma. I'll be back tomorrow to post my outift from today, plus some of my shopping finds! Be sure to check out my post below for my Saturday afternoon shopping outfit, just posted today too.
(outfit here wasn't terribly exciting, so I didn't list where the items are from, if you're curious about anything, just leave a comment)

Rat-tat-tat Ka-Boom

2010-05-23T21:37:00.004-04:00

This weekend is a long weekend in Canada. It's the weekend we celebrate the birth of Queen Victoria. Or the death. Or something like that. More typically it's the weekend Canadians celebrate by drinking beer and lighting fireworks (which is always a good combination) We also celebrate Canada day and labour day in very similar fashions. I will be celebrating in a less traditional manner, by working. Well at least I got Saturday and Sunday off, I just won't be able to join in the merriment tomorrow. I had a great weekend though, I got to spend it with some of my favourite people. Yesterday my friend Marie was in town, so we got to spend some time loitering around the mall, just like old times. She's pictured here with me, sporting the worlds funkiest yamaka. (lol, ok, it's a fascinator headband thingy, it's actually pretty dammed cute) She managed to score quite a haul at H&M. I mostly behaved myslef because I knew I was going shopping with my mum today. There was however a certain necklace from H&M I was going to literally die without and after my previous near death expreience last week, I didn't want to take the risk. You'll have to stay tuned to see it later though.
The dress here, I'd planned on wearing during my 27 dresses escapade. I somehow completley missed it though, so you get to see it now. I also managed to find two more dresses at Value Village today, so believe it or not, there's still more dresses in store for this summer.
Dress: Ricki's
Stockings: Forever 21
Necklace: Le Chateau
Shoes: Costa Blanca. RIP.
(I've loved these shoes to death, they're starting to completely fall apart. Not to fret, I got two new pairs of flats today to replace them)

The princess in all her tacky glory

2010-05-21T12:18:00.019-04:00

I recently was invited to a site called Lookville. I signed up, but was hesitant to post anything. I decided to throw caution to the wind and go ahead and post an outfit I wore recently. I thought I looked pretty darned cute on that day, but the commentators on Lookville apparently thought differently. (The outfit is the bottom picture) Fortunately no one was overly mean directly at me, but I got a couple fun comments like

"BURN THE STOCKINGS! AND THE SHRUG! they are ugly and just plain bad! the stockings are waywayway too much and they just look bad! Plus this is a cute summer dress the shrug looks tacky and hot! take it off! "
"lose the stockings, and the shrug.... then PERFECT! the stockings pattern is too matchy crazy with the pattern of the sweater top.... and the blue stockings with green shoes..... oh no....and all of that is competing with the dress! TOO MUCH!!!!!! The dress is perfect on you. wear only that, and switch necklace to more feminine: a strand of pearls. If u need something to wear for a cover up, choose a pashmina style wrap that matches the bow on the dress: PERFECT!"
"I would loose the blue stockings. I don't think they are doing anything good for your legs."
"I think it would be better if you get rid of the stockings. The stockings actually emphasises on your legs"

So basically if I got rid of everything from the outfit that made it unique and me, I would look good. Plus I should wear a strand of pearls and I had a couple of recommendations to wear a pashmina instead. A pashmina? Really?

So I took their comments into careful consideration and went over to my wardrobe and chose the brightest article of clothing I could find. I then found the most "unflattering" fishnets i owned (Fishnet etiquette dictates that bigger the fishnet pattern, the more unflattering and trashier they are) I looked through my jewelery and found one of the biggest necklaces possible and then once I was done I looked in the mirror and much to the horror of Coco Chanel, (she always advised one should look in the mirror and remove one accessory before leaving the house) added one more accessory, a big fake looking rhinestone bracelet.
The end result? Perfect!
(outfit is the top few pictures shown)

I'm well aware my style verges on tacky and over the top sometimes. On occasion I look like a box of crayons exploded on me. I wouldn't have it any other way. Calvin Kline's minimalism makes me yawn. Give me Alexander Mcqueen's robots spray painting a white dress any day. Jeniffer Aniston may look polished and put together, but she also looks kinda boring. Bjork's swan dress, Rose McGowan's MTV awards dress and anything worn by Lady Gaga may be weird or tacky or land them on worst dressed lists, but at least it's memorable. Marilyn Monroe once said "it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." I know my taste isn't everyones cup of tea, but if you don't like it, feel free not to drink it. The world would be a boring place if everyone had the same taste.

So to the person that said I should burn my stockings and my shrug, I say to you I'm going to start a fire allright, but only so I can burn your retinas. Behold me in all my tacky glory and burn baby burn!

Outfit today:
Skirt: Jones of New York from Winners
Cardigan: Reitmans
Tank top: Joe Fresh
Stockings: Forever 21
Shoes: Winners
Necklace & Bracelet: Aldo's
Belt: Walmart

I'm giving in

2010-05-21T00:32:00.005-04:00

My plan was to take a day off and not do a post today, but it feels like there's something I need to do. I'm sure if I attempted to go to bed, I'd lie there unable to fall asleep. It's technically past midnight, so really I took Thursday off and this is a post for Friday. Yeah, that's it. I've come far too used to you lavishing attention on me, I can't go a day without it. So, you don't get a full OOTD post, but you do get to see some bling and some pocket elephants. A few bloggers lately have shown the content of their purses. Mine's pretty boring as I change purses every day or two, so a peak inside only reveals 3 tubes of lipstick, my wallet, some pressed powder and some Advil. So, I decided to show you the contents of my drawer at work. I work in a call centre and we don't get to have our own desk. Like deranged hobos we need to pack all our stuff up each night and take the next available desk in the morning. We're given these teensy little plastic drawers to hold our worldly belongings. Needless to say mine is always overflowing and can't be slid into the little plastic compartment as it should, but gets placed on top so the overflowing chaos has plenty of room. It of course is full of increadibly important items though. Upon inspection today I had:
1 old copy of BUST magazine
5 pencil sharpeners
4 erasers
1 tube of Dr. Pepper flavoured lip gloss
1 highlighter
7 unclaimed lottery tickets
1 wind up pony
1 copy of Anokhi magazine (a Canadian magazine marketed towards South Asians, which silly hippes think is strange to read)
5 old notes
3 fabric snowflakes
1 tub of mango-peach hand cream
1 pocket elephant
1 half eaten bag of chocolate covered almonds
1 plastic parachute man
1 hippo finger puppet
1 glue stick
3 daisies I plan on turning into jewelery
and 2 gnawed on pens.
So you can see why I obviously can't get rid of any of it.
The pocket elephant was purchased one day while walking around China Town. The old man selling them agreed to sell two for the price of one, so I kept one for myself and gave one to a certain colour-blind hippy. I decided the little elephants were pocket elephants. In the wild they live in pockets and feast on pocket lint. These two reside in our drawers at work though. The pocket elephants often have to spend time apart, but get together on occassion to have pocket elephant dance parties. Every once in awhile we let them have an overnight visit and they have kinky kinky pocket elephant sex. (yup, that one picture is what you think it is)
My first day after the 27 dresses challenge I took full advantage and wore jeans and a black t-shirt. The outfit isn't terribly exciting, but I wore some of my Indian jewelery to spice it up. I love going to Little India in Toronto. They have the coolest sari and jewelery shops. This set my mama got for me one time.
I'll probably wear something a little spiffier tomorrow and be back with another outfit post.

Two for the price of one!

2010-05-19T21:34:00.006-04:00

Good News! I'm not dead. Doctors expect me to make a full recovery. It will probably be a long and painful process, but they think one day I may even be able to walk again. More Good News, today I reached 27 dresses! Never one for being a minimalist I decided to make it 28 dresses. I wore the blue & black one pictured here earlier in the day and changed for work into the green & black. Check out http://jasiferlionsclub.blogspot.com/ for some of the other 27 Dresses challengers. Now that the challenge is over, I may take a little bit of a breather. Posting every single day is quite a bit, so I might cut back to every couple days for a bit. lol, don't want you to get sick of me either.
Outfits today:
Blue Dress: Lane Bryant
AMAZING necklace: Aldos, Christmas present from my best friend
Shoes: Payless
Green Dress: Goodwill
Stockings: Forever 21
Purse: Le Chateau
Earrings: Aldo's

Lovely Links

2010-05-19T09:13:00.000-04:00

em>

I Love Fatshion Network Links

Compiled by Em. x.

This is an exciting week and hopefully will see the start of something new and amazing. The I Love Fatshion Network is designed to bring about the spirit of community and one of the best ways for this to happen is through publishing some of the best links which are submitted to the forums each week… (inspiration taken from the amazing IFB’s Links A La Mode). This week, our first week – we have published them all. As this grows in popularity it will become a wonderful way to showcase the best of what our fatshion network has to offer each week.

If you would like your Fatshion Links included next week – please submit your post to the official thread on the forum.

Smooch – Em. x.

Bargain Fatshionista – Five pairs of prescription glasses for – a Zenni Optical Haul.

Black Crushing Sea – Edgy Silver Jewellry, Not only for the Goth Girl.

Curvy Kitten – The health of a Curvy Kitten.

Nearly Thirty – My first OOTD!

Oh, The Places You’ll Go! – Can’t wait for SATC 2? First, Love the Outfits…

Pretty In Plus – Spring Cleaning: A lesson in Ruthlessness.

The Pale and Pallor Princess – I’m so vain, I probably think this song is about me.

Vanessa Reece – Be a "Cool Curvie" by finding your own style.

This may be my last post ever

2010-05-18T19:01:00.006-04:00

This morning I was mortally wounded. Walking downstairs while carrying my cereal I managed to gash my leg on a stray nail. The resulting wound resembles something from a Quentin Tarantino film. I'm pretty sure it was the most painful wound in the history of the world. I've somehow managed to make it through the day at work, but I can no longer feel the cut. This is obviously a sign of gangrene or something far worse. I fear my time left in this world is short. Not being the type of person to complain or overreact, I decided to spend my last few breaths posting my OOTD.
Dress: Laura
Stockings: Forever 21
Necklace: H&M
Bracelet: Aldo's
Purse: Icing
Shoes: Steve Madden from Winners.
I bid you all farewell. If by some small chance I make it through the night tomorrow will be the last day of the 27 dresses challenge.

"OOooh! Update! Check out http://musingsofafatshionista.com/2010/05/259-april-2010-fatshion-recap/ For Christina's awesome roundup of April's fashions, including me and many of your other favourite bloggers"....The Princess said with her final breath.

I think I'm turning Japanese

2010-05-17T23:17:00.004-04:00

25 dresses down, only two to go! I wish I had a magnigficant ballgown or something to finish things off with a bang. Very shortly I will be done making a ballgown out of garbage though. For those of you newer to the blog, I'm competing in the Trash Fusion Competition. I'm working with a team from my work to create an outfit made of trash. We're using coffee cups and plastic bags. It's been a lot of work, but it's finally starting to come together. Once we're done I'll post some pictures.
Today's dress I scored at the clothing swap over the weekend. Know what else I scored? Caramel! I love Starbucks Caramel Frappachinos and always when placing my order ask for an obscene amount of caramel on top. When visiting Starbucks over the weekend my friend noticed they were selling bottles of it. So if someone finds me in a sugar induced coma in the next couple days you'll know why.
outfit:
Dress: Fresh Baked Goods, courtesy of Marie at the clothing swap
Shoes: Aldo's
Purse: Stolen from my mama
Stockings & Necklace: Value Village

Let the sun shine in (but not too much)

2010-05-17T00:02:00.009-04:00

Well, the pale and pallor princess is now just the sunburnt princess. Spent about 3 hours in the sun doing a photoshoot of my jewelery that I'll be selling on Etsy soon (very very soon) and of course forgot the sunblock. For being so pale, I'm actually usually pretty good about not burning, but this will now be the second time this spring I've done it. On the bright side, at least my face isn't burnt because my facecream has sunblock.
We managed to get some great shots though, Today's dress was just a couple of them, so I'll show the rest off soon.
Make sure to scroll down to see yesterday's dress too (posted today)
Outfit today was:
Necklace & Earrings made by yours truly
(win the necklace here: http://thepaleandpallorprincess.blogspot.com/2010/05/and-now-for-something-completely.html)
Dress: Society
Shoes: Le Chateau
Purse: Winners (actually from the kid's section!)

Great minds think alike

2010-05-16T22:20:00.004-04:00

Back when we were about 10 or so Marie and I thought it was the coolest thing ever to dress alike. lol, apparently time hasn't changed much. I arrived at her place yesterday and discovered she too had decided to wear a dress covered in a pattern that looks like bright brushstrokes of colour. Fortunately they weren't the same dress, but it almost looks like we called each other up and coordinated our outfits when getting dressed. The clothing swap was a success, I came home with about 5 new purses, a new dress, a couple shirts and some makeup. There was a entire tableful of cute shoes about one size to small, I tried cramming my feet into a couple pairs in vain, but it wasn't pretty. This post shows Saturday's outfit, I'll return a bit later to post todays.
My Outfit:
Dress & Jacket: Winners
Shoes: Le Chateau
Earrings: Value Village
Bangle: Aldo's
Purse: Antique store
Marie's outfit:
dress: The Bay
Coat: Lorne Coats
Shoes: Aldo's
Bag: Betsyville from Winners

As you wish

2010-05-14T23:49:00.006-04:00

Holy crap, I just looked and my blog has been viewed 10,003 times! lol, I'm sure I was 9,000 of that checking to see if you guys have left comments and such.
Just got home from the movies, I saw Robin Hood. It was kinda craptacular. So disappointed because I really like Cate Blanchett, she's pretty much the reason I bothered seeing the movie. Robin Hood Men in Tights is much better. I think I'll re-watch it sometime soon. (I only watched it 50 or so times when I was a kid) What are your favourite childhood movies? My other ones are Labyrinth, Willow and The Princess Bride. I've seen them all a zillion times and will probably watch them a zillion more.
So glad the weekend is here! I'll be heading to Toronto in the morning for Marie's annual clothing swap. Afterwords we're going to head to a bar for a friend's birthday. It'll be my first time going out as a newly single woman. eeek, I don't know how to be single. lol. Sunday we're going to take some photos for the launch of my etsy store. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with some quality friends.
Outfit today:
Dress: Thrifted Value Village
Shoes: Payless
Purse: vintage, had it a few years, can't 100% remember where I got it. Probably Goodwill or Value Village or such. I added the pin on.
Necklace: Thrifted Salvation Army
Cardigan: Old Navy, Grabbed it on the way out the door cause it was a little Chilly.
I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to do a post tomorrow. If I miss it, I'll catch up Sunday. To make up for it I'll be wearing a dress tomorrow with a gratuitous amount of cleavage, lol, so now you have something to look forward to.

I'm so vain I probably think this song is about me.

2010-05-13T09:51:00.006-04:00

Sometimes I feel a little vain taking so many pictures of myself all the time. I remind myself of one of those Bueno commercials about raising the bar for indulgence. (see it here if you don't know what I'm taking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01fVq039NB0 it's probably one of the best ads I've seen) I may of never spent 8 hours at a spa or spent nine dollars on a coffee, but I have spent 6 hours at a spa and spent at least five dollars on a coffee. I occasionally think I could probably find a cure for cancer or something wonderful if I didn't devote so much time getting ready in the morning, lol, but then I catch a reflection of myself in a mirror and lose my train of thought.
Meh, so maybe I am a little vain. For so long I didn't like myself very much, I figure I'm allowed to make up for it now. I definitely still have self doubt about other parts of my life, but I'm pretty at peace with my looks. Of course there are moments that falters a bit and obviously if I could somehow give myself clearer skin and a flat stomach magically I would. But there's not very much I'd change about myself if I could. My nose is a little big, lol but it matches my big hips. I might be kinda pale, but in the past women would apply lead to their faces and eat chalk to achieve this ghostly pallor. Plus I've got a pretty good rack, nice calves and I like my smile.
One of my friends was reading my post the other day about my wild and untamed backyard and asked if that meant I was going to fix it all up and take pretty picture. lol, this ain't that kind of blog. This is a blog about self indulgence, not self improvement.
Outfit today:
Dress: Giant Tiger
Stockings: Forever 21
Necklace: Le Chateau
Ring: Urban Planet
Shoes: Payless
Purse: Vintage
sweater shrug: Clothes swap

Imitation is the sincerest form of AWESOME!

2010-05-12T17:07:00.008-04:00

I've always wondered what it would be like to have a twin, a mirror image looking back at me. My days of wondering are over, behold my long lost identical twin: Beth!
Ok, so maybe we don't look identical, but I was the inspiration for her outfit today. How cool is that? Check out her blog at: http://refashionrecyclereuse.blogspot.com/

Hers is the second creative entry I've received for my necklace giveaway.
The first entry was from my friend Joyce who wrote me this wonderful poem:
Sarah, the princess, Was a lovely girl
All smiles & giggles & a wee bit of sass
She loved what she did
& She did what she loved
Her fashion sense showed so much class!

The contest is still open until May 22nd if you want to enter.
http://thepaleandpallorprincess.blogspot.com/2010/05/and-now-for-something-completely.html

Outfit today:
Dress: http://bonjourgazel.blogspot.com/ Bought from the lovely Gazel, merci Gazel! Visit her shop, she's got some cute stuff.
Stockings: Value Village
Cardigan: Forever 21
Shoes: Zellers
Necklace: Fashion Crimes
Corn Earrings: Made em myself
Purse: Salvation Army (didn't like the strap it came with, so I chopped it off and used a ribbon instead)
Belt: Value Village

Where the wild things are

2010-05-11T17:12:00.016-04:00

Once upon a time we had a beautiful well gardened backyard. Unfortunately an evil sorcerer cast a spell and it became wild and overgrown. Either that or we stopped doing much with it. We don't really have a lawn any longer, it all overgrown with wild flowers, weeds and herbs gone wild. (Mint & lemon balm) We attempted a little vegetable garden last summer, the squirrels thought it was delicious. Unfortunately they didn't leave much for us to taste though. Fortunately our wild and untamed backyard works great as a background for pictures. I had time to snap a couple before heading into work today.
The boob cupcakes were a success, they sold out. I included a picture of a pair. lol, I don't think a lot of people realized what they were supposed to be though. There were a tonne of people that donated baked goods. All together between the bake sale and a raffle, my office was able to raise $1700 for Breast Cancer Research. Yay! Good job work buddies! I've recently found out a few of my co-workers have been following my wee blog. Hello co-workers!
Today's Dress is number 19, it's quite feat considoring throughout highschool I maybe wore dresses a handful of times. Up until a year or two ago I only wore dresses and skirts on rare occassions. lol, well I guess I'm more then making up for lost time.
Dress: Laura
Stockings: Forever 21. I love these ones, I have them in 3 different colours.
Bracelet: Present from my mama
Earrings: Aldo's
Shoes: Costa Blanca
Cardigan: Old Navy
Belt: Reitmans
Bag: Forever 21

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a necklace made by me!
http://thepaleandpallorprincess.blogspot.com/2010/05/and-now-for-something-completely.html

The end is near!

2010-05-10T19:19:00.009-04:00

So, guess what I'm doing right now...making cupcakes that look like boobs. lol, there is a reason (not that you really need one) it's National Denim Day to raise money for Breast Cancer Research tomorrow, so at work we're having a bake sale. I was supposed to make pink coloured goodies, but i thought this was more fun. The end is nearing for the 27 dresses in 27 days challenge. I can see jeans at the end of the tunnel. I've enjoyed the challenge though. I love jeans, but they're easy to fall back on. It takes more work to wear dresses every day (not to mention more shaving) I've had to think outside of the box to find enough dresses. I've bought dresses that were too big and too small and found ways to make them work. Today's dress is in the slightly too big category. If I was buying it in a regular store I probably would of bought it a size smaller. Buying it from Value Village I didn't have that luxury, so worked around it by belting it in. Unfortunately by the time I take my pictures it's usually the end of the day, so it's looking a little rumpled here. It was pretty chilly again today, but it give me a chance to show you another coat from my winter wardrobe.
Rest of the outfit was:
Stockings, earrings and necklace: Forever 21
Shoes: Le Chateau
Belt: Piece of ribbon from Fabric Land
Coat: Old Navy
Beaded Purse: H&M
I attempted to curl my hair today and ended up looking like a deranged poodle. Think my hair's a little too short still to curl it properly. I ended up spraying it with water and brushing out most of the curl, so ended up with a slightly wavy look.

Wearing a cape makes me a superhero right?

2010-05-09T21:12:00.004-04:00

Hope everyone had a great mothers day. I spent the day with my mama doing what we do best, shopping! Found a couple really cute items I can't wait to show off over the next little while. When we woke up this morning, the ground was covered in snow. Yuck. It all melted by noon though (and before I was able to snap many pics, just got the one of the tree in our front yard. Most of the snow was melted off, but you can see a little bit if you look close) It still stayed really cold throughout the day, which was a great excuse for breaking out my cape. The cape I found while shopping with my mama one day in the fall. I saw it and though "ha ha, look at the silly cape. I'll try it on for fun." Joke was on me though, cause I loved it and bought it. Today's dress I've shown a zillion times before, but it's my favourite. It's my only time wearing it during these 27 days, so only wearing one of your favourite things once during 27 days is quite a feat.
Between shopping we stopped down by the lake so my mama could snap some pictures for me. It was FREEZING and so windy. MY cape actually ended up blowing up over my head at one point like those head funnels they put on dogs to keep them from chewing their stitches. At the lake we saw an adorable goose family. Mama Goose was pretty protective and didn't let us get too close, we got hissed at. (A hissing goose is actually pretty scary) My mom managed to grab a couple pics though.
Outfit today was:
Dress & Stockings: Ricki's
Cape: Sears
Necklace: Some little store in Montreal
Shoes: Zellers
Purse: Aldo's

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-05-09T10:17:00.002-04:00

Happy Mothers Day to my mama! She's one of my best friends. Look how beautiful she is, this picture was taken about a year ago. I won't disclose her age, but she was about my age when she had me. Looks like our plan for a picnic is out, but I'm sure whatever we do today will be fun.
Hope all you mamas out there are having a good day too!
I'll be back later in the day to post my OOTD.

Pray for us sinners

2010-05-08T21:50:00.008-04:00

When I first put on this dress this morning someone said I looked like a Sunday school teacher. My prompt response contained a expletive or two that would surely get me expelled from bible study. Hopefully by the time I had a cardigan layered overtop, my fishnets on and some heels I didn't look quite so matronly. Looking at the overall effect, I think I'll go for a different belt next time though. Remember how yesterday I said at least it wasn't snowing? It snowed today. In May. What the frickin frick?
My plans of garage saleing were dashed, so to the Antique Mall I went instead (see my post below) afterwords we went to the movies (saw Iron Man 2, not bad) and then drove out to the farm to get some fresh asparagus and a pie (which I promptly burnt once getting home) Now I'm curled up in bed and plan on watching one of my favourite movies: Amelie! I've probably seen it 10 times already, but it always makes me so happy.
I hate always taking my picture in the same spot, so I attempted to get some outside today. lol, as you can see from the one lovely shot it didn't work so well.
Today's outfit was:
Dress: Thrifted Value Village
Cardigan: Reitmans
Stockings: Forever 21
Purse: Vintage, a gift from my mama
Black necklace: Forever 21
Purple Necklace: Antique Mall (I changed into after buying it this afternoon)
Shoes: Zellers
Belt: Laura

Someone else's trash is my treasure

2010-05-08T17:20:00.008-04:00

By now you've probably noticed that I love old junk. It's a habit passed down from my mom. Growing up she always had some sort of a collection, first it was tea cups, then china dolls, then onto Jadeite (like the green mugs shown here) and now her current obsession is vintage jewelery. We've often joked that she collects collections. From an early age on, I spent countless hours being dragged around antique, consignment, secondhand, vintage and thrift stores. I used to dislike it. I've always been a bit of a bookworm, so it was secondhand books that first won me over. I'd find the booth selling old books and run my fingers along their spines and flip their worn pages while she browsed the rest of the store. I loved the slightly musty smell they had, kind of like leaves in the fall. Next it was jewelery. Antique stores often have huge bowls full of old jewelery, often each piece sealed in it's own teensy little ziploc bag. Like a mad pirate I dived in, searching for plastic and rhinhestone treasures. After that it became purses. Most modern purses do nothing for me. You can keep your Fendi's and Louis Vuitton's, I'd much rather have an old straw purse from the 60's. Now, I can spend hours wandering an antique store. Every nook and cranny holds a new treasure. You never know what you'll find.
Today I visited one of the two antique malls in Barrie. I snapped some pictures of some of my finds.
I found so many cool purses today, there were probably 5 or so different ones that I wanted. Sadly due to budget constraints none of them came home with me. The items shown against the white are the items that did come home. I found these two dishes that I thought were really pretty for $3 ea. I love flower pins, I thought the one here was really unique, it was $5. The purple necklace was $8 and came with a pair of clip on earrings. And the two pairs of earrings were $2.25 ea.
The last picture shows huggy bears. (Huggy bears are the originals, they also have huggy bunnies, puppies, etc.) They're salt and pepper shakers that embrace each other. My grandma has a pair that will someday be passed down to my mom and then one day down to me. The saddest thing in the world is a huggy bear by itself. It stands there thrusting its' arms into the world hoping to make contact with someone and one day be hugged back. If I see a single huggy bear in a store I always try and find them a figurine or something to hug. One day I hope to start a huggy bear foundation and match up all the single huggy bears with mates.
Tomorrow I'm sure you all know is mothers day. I'll be spending the day with my mama. We're planning on taking a road trip to Owen Sound, there's some really pretty waterfalls there and if it's not too cold we're planning on having a picnic. It's about a 3 hour drive away. I'm really hoping there's some antique stores on the way.
I'll be back later in the day to post my outfit. Hope y'all are having a great weekend so far!

Free as a bird

2010-05-07T22:46:00.006-04:00

Thank you everyone for all your support! Your comments & words of wisdom mean so much to me :)
Nothing all that exciting to report today (lol, which sometimes can be a good thing)
The weather's pretty dreary and drizzly, but at least it's not snowing (it apparently is supposed to in other parts of the country) It's putting a bit of a damper on my plans to go Garage sale-ing in the morning.
Today's outfit is:
Dress: Laura
Sweater: Ricki's
Stockings: Forever 21
Shoes: Zellers
Necklace: Forever 21
Purse: Daffy's (from when I was in NYC a couple years ago)
The dress was a bit dressy to wear to work as is, so I wore my good ol' polka dot sweater overtop.

*Don't forget to enter the giveaway to win a genuine Pale and Pallor Princess creation. (see a couple posts below)

Now I know how Meryl Streep must feel

2010-05-07T12:14:00.007-04:00

A HUGE thank you to my darling Annissa of http://bargainfatshionista.blogspot.com/
for awarding me and 14 of my beautiful blogging peers these two awards. If you haven't checked out her blog yet, be sure to. She was recently featured on http://blogtobealive.com/
I was actually given the Sugar Doll Award previously by my fancy frocks friend Jennifer at http://jasiferlionsclub.blogspot.com. lol, but if Meryl can receive multiple Oscars, I'll accept this award twice too.

Beautiful Blogger Award rules:
- thank the person(s) who nominated you and give a link to their blog.
- copy the award and paste it to your blog.
- pass this award on to 15 fantastic bloggers you have discovered.
- contact your nominees and let them know they've won

Sugar Doll Award Rules:

1) Thank and link the person who gave you the award.
2) Pass this award onto fabulous bloggers of your choice.
3) Contact said blogs and let them know they've won.
4) Re-post and state 10 things about yourself.

So, I'm passing these babies onto:
http://www.allaboutshoeporn.com/
http://blingoftheday.blogspot.com/
http://brideblu.blogspot.com/
http://bombshellbeauty.blogspot.com/
http://boomboompow-plus.blogspot.com/
http://chubblebubbleblog.blogspot.com/
http://chunkyfunkymonkeyz.blogspot.com/
http://plumpfeathers.blogspot.com/
http://polishondigitalpaper.blogspot.com/
http://rebequitasfashionblog.blogspot.com/
http://redvinylshoes.com/blog/
http://refashionrecyclereuse.blogspot.com/
http://rubytuesdayfashionanddesign.blogspot.com/
http://fashionandlifeofacurvykitten.blogspot.com/
http://whykikiwhy.blogspot.com/

As for the 10 things about me, I filled out 10 things last time, so this time I'll open the floor to any questions you have about me, if there's anything you want to know, ask away!

This is our last goodbye

2010-05-06T22:25:00.004-04:00

I have tragic news to share, I'll no longer be getting a second bedroom to use as a closet. Well, that and the Grumpy Danish and I broke up. We've been married almost 6 years and realized it wasn't really working. Neither of us were very happy any longer. We don't hate each other, we just don't really love each other any more. So, that's what's been going on lately. It happened last Saturday, so the last week has been a little rough, it's a big change, but I'm doing ok.
I've been eating up quite a bit of my vacation time this last week, so I took a couple pictures at work today to use as photographic evidence that I do work on occassion, lol.
Today's dress of the day was another find at Goodwill on Tuesday. It's made out of T-shirt material and increadibly comfy. For work I paired it with this jacket that I got from Ricki's.
My purse of the day I thrifted at Value Village. I'm not a Sagittarius, (I'm a Cancer) but it was so cute I couldn't pass it up.
Rest of the outfit is:
Stockings: Forever 21
Necklace: Bittersweet
Shoes: Le Chateau
Bracelet: Dollar store
Ring: Urban Planet
Furry Gray Cat: Tinkerbell, the manly cat
Awesome Umbrella: Goodwill

********If you haven't yet, make sure to enter my giveaway below*********

And now for something completely different!

2010-05-06T13:54:00.003-04:00

Happy Thursday my lovely bloggers!
In the next little while I plan on opening an Etsy shop to sell jewelery and vintage clothing, so to celebrate that and me reaching over 100 posts I figured it was high time for a giveaway.
Up for grabs is this safety pin necklace that I made. I'll be selling them in my Etsy shop, but you have a chance to get one now for free.
I'm giving you four ways to enter, you can choose as many ways as you'd like for an opportunity of up to 7 entries.
For one entry, leave a comment
For another entry, be a follower of my blog
For an extra 2 entries mention my giveway on your blog
and for another extra 3 entries do something creative, use me or my blog as a muse and draw a picture, write a Haiku or Limerick or use your imagination. (lol, it doesn't necessarily need to be a good drawing or anything, I won't be judging)
The last day for entries will be Saturday May 22nd.

In Bloom

2010-05-05T21:50:00.006-04:00

I took another half vacation day today. I'm going through my vacation time pretty quickley, but I need some time off to process stuff right now. Having the first half of the day off gave me an oppportunity to go to Sunnidale Park to take some pictures. The park is about 10 mintes from my house. It used to be a golf course, but somtime back in the 70's it got converted into a park. I decided to lay down in the dandilions for a couple pics and ended up with yellow all over my jacket. lol, most of the pictures taken lying down didn't even end up looking all that great, I looked like a corpse in most. Today's dress was a thifted find yesterday from Goodwill for $7. It's a good two sizes too small for me, I actually can't zip up the back. Fortunetely if I wear a blazer or cardigan over top no one's the wiser. (shhh)
The hat was also scored at the same Goodwill. I decided to try and mix up the outfit a bit. Modern & Vintage and Tough and Pretty. lol, kinda reflects my mood as of late.
Rest of the outfit is:
Shoes: Old Navy
Stockings: Forever 21
jacket: Addition Elle
Bracelet: Aldo's
Purse: Goodwill (different location, got this one over the weekend)
Necklace: Bought in Buffalo on Black Friday a couple years ago. The day was such a flurry of sleep deprived shopping insanity that I can't remember which store it was from.

Pop-Tart!

2010-05-04T23:14:00.002-04:00

Hey all!
I'm feeling much better then I was yesterday, I appreciate all the kind words and support. I'll probably still be a little up and down over the next little while, but starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I snagged a half vacation day today and went shopping with my mama. Shopping is always a cure for what ails you. (well unless what ails you is being broke, which I kinda am, but it's not what was ailing me, so I'm still good) Got some great finds, including more dresses! Today's dress I've shown before (not during the 27 days challenge, but before that) the overall outfit isn't really exciting, but I still like it. The second half of the day I had to work, but I was able to spend most of the time working on a fun project (the building the dress out of garbage event that I originally spoke about a month or so ago) so I got to spend a few hours listening to tunes with Tom (the hippy that can't tell colours, lol) and braiding plastic bags.
outfit today is:
Dress: Rickis
Shoes: Forever 21
Stockings: Wait a sec! No stockings? yeah, I was actually wearing a pair of black fishnets earlier in the day, but I managed to snag em in a couple spots, so I ditched them half way through the day. So you guys get a rare treat and get to see my legs.
Purse: Vintage, bought yesterday at the Antique Mall
Necklace & Earrings: Pop beads!!! I love pop beads, I found these ones at the Salvation Army yesterday for $1.

Tragic Kingdom

2010-05-03T19:14:00.013-04:00

Sigh. I need a hug.
Going through some stuff right now that's not real fun. Every 20 seconds I change to feeling a different emotion and it's pretty exhausting. Can't really go into details at the moment, but some pretty big changes are happening.
On the upside I found this fab hat. I love hats, but often the vintage ones are a little on the small side for my big head. This one just kinda perches on top though. I also scored a cute vintage purse (probably wear it tomorrow) and some fun post cards from the 50's that I plan to post on my fridge. Antiquing always cheers me up a bit. For more on some great hats, see http://fatshionable.com/ and her post today about hats, or check out some of the pictures from the Kentucky Derby yesterday.
My 30 purses in 30 days journey continues (completely lost track of which day I'm on, so I might just keep it up till I run out) Today's 'purse' is actually a vintage sewing basket. I like using items and using them differently then how they're intended. (almost bought a 70's plastic toy drum to use as a purse today, but due to budget constraints the hat won)
Rest of the outfit is:
Dress: The Bay
Shoes: Payless
Earrings: Suzy Sheir
Rings: H&M
Stockings: Forever 21
Hat: Vintage

27 Dresses, 10 Down.

2010-05-02T22:32:00.003-04:00

Hello my royal subjects.
Just a quick post before I'm off to bed to show off Dress #10.
Dress- Ricki's
Stockings- Ricki's
Shoes- Zellers
Hair Pins- Icing
Necklace- gift from my friend Christina
Purse- a hand me down from my friend Marie

Kat-O-Gram's Birthday

2010-05-02T11:50:00.006-04:00

Happy Sunday darlings!
Yesterday we celebrated Kat-O-Gram's birthday. We started the day by meeting up at a pub downtown. By complete fluke we ran into an old friend from highschool that we hadn't seen in about 9 years. So we spent a couple hours on a sunny patio catching up and reminiscing, eat pub food and playing crazy 8's.
Next we headed for sushi. We met up with a couple more people and gorged ourselves on Japanese food.
After that, it was karaokee time. We went to this slightly sketchy looking karaokee club in Chinatown. You get a room to yourself and just need to reach a tab of $200 in food and drink (there was 9 of us, so it was pretty easy) We belted out everything from Amy Winehouse to Ace of Base to Missy Elliot as loudly (and badly) as we could. I'm not usually much of one for karaokee because I don't like being up in front of a crowd, but in the confines of a small room surrounded by friends I let my inner (out of tune) diva out. lol, voice is a little hoarse today.
Outfit was:
Dress from Joe Fresh
Stockings & Bracelet: Forever 21
Necklace: Aldos'
Shoes: Costa Blanca
Purse: Ricki's

Everyone wins! But especially me!

2010-04-30T23:15:00.007-04:00

Thanks everyone for voting yesterday, the votes have been calculated and I was right, the shoes are blue. However some of you thought Tom was kinda cute and liked his hair, so he kinda wins too.
You're going to have to find a way to live without me for a couple days, heading to Toronto to celebrate Kat-O-Grams birthday. Happy Birthday Kat!
I'll post pictures once I'm back though and catch you up on my dresses of the day for while I was gone.
My mama is making a guest appearance in today's pics. We actually work in the same office and arrived at work today and discovered we coordinated. I swear we didn't plan it, but great minds think alike. Everyone say hi to my mom!
The dress today I bought for a Christmas party. It's a little dressy to wear to the office, so I tried to dress it down with a cardigan over top and some fun stockings. (lol, only I would use leopard print and pink fishnets to dress something down)
Outfit is:
Dress- Laura
Stockings, bracelet & cardigan: Forever 21
Earrings: Aldo's
Purse: H&M
Shoes: Steve Madden at Winners.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Help me prove that Tom is wrong

2010-04-29T22:35:00.002-04:00

Meet Tom. He's my friend from work and generally a pretty cool guy. However he's wrong and I'd like you guys to help me prove it. He thinks the shoes I wore today are one colour and they are definintely another colour. Vote by leaving a comment and help us decide which colour they are. Check out the shoes I'm wearing in today's OOTD below, and then vote Blue or Purple. lol, While voting, feel free to make fun of his unkept appearance and his crazy hair.

Ahoy Mateys!

2010-04-29T21:56:00.005-04:00

I'm now one week into my pantless escapade. For those of you new to the blog (hello!) I joined a challenge to wear 27 different dresses in 27 days. I ran into a small snag when I realized I probably didn't have 27 dresses. So off to Value Village I sailed yesterday to see what I could find. For those of you that are Value Village-less, it's a less sketchy version of Goodwill or Salvtion Army (though I've found some cool things at those places too) I found this dress and thought it woukd go great with some of the Nautical jewellery I've been looking at lately. It's a little old lady house coat-ish, but I thought with the right accessories I could pull it off. What do you guys think, does it work or is it a Nautical Disaster
(10 points to anyone that gets the reference)
The rest of the outfit is:
Bag: Thrifted from Goodwill
Shoes: Payless
Bracelet: Forever 21
Necklace: Aldos
Stockings: Forever 21
To check out the frocks of the other gals taking part in the challenge visit:
http://jasiferlionsclub.blogspot.com/search/label/27%20Dresses%20challenge

The Polka Dot More

2010-04-28T19:48:00.005-04:00

Wallis Simpson was wrong, you actually can be too rich or too thin. Too many polka dots though? Never!
Today is the second of three dresses I own featuring our favourite dotty friend. I got this one a couple years ago. It's traveled with me to Cuba and back, you can smoosh it into a suitcase and it comes out looking new. My only complaint is that the straps are a little long, the back of my bra shows, so I usually throw a sweater or something over top.
Dress is yet another one from Rickis
Stockings Forever 21
Shoes Steve Madden from Winners
Purse thrifted from Value Village and re-mixed by me
Necklace (actually wearing 2 of them) from Le Chateau

After posting the Nautical accessories this morning I scored a Nautical-ish dress this afternoon, so be sure check back tomorrow to see it. (I also may of purchased some accessories to go with it shhh...)

More Great Giveaways going on:
http://bigbeautyfulmess.blogspot.com/ is giving away a $50 Lucie Lu Giftcard
http://www.cidstylefile.com/ is giving away a seriously adorable Nautical Purse from Dooney & Burke. (would go great with my dress tomorrow)
http://lemondropvintage.blogspot.com/ is giving away a beautiful pair of Petit Rococo earrings.
...and stay tuned, I plan on having my own giveaway soon!

O Captain My Captain

2010-04-28T02:47:00.006-04:00

So I had my I-Tunes on Shuffle this morning and guess which song started playing? The Little Mermaid's "Under the Sea" (I don't normally make a habit of listening to Disney songs. At Christmas time we were doing a toy drive and I bought a Tinkerbell MP3 player and uploaded some music onto it in case the recipient child didn't have a computer) (The Little Mermaid is awesome though, so I haven't deleted the song)
So I figured it was a sign. I'd been thinking of doing a Nautical Post for awhile, so anchors away, here it is.
The Nautical look is kind of like the tide, it may be out sometimes, but you know it's always coming back in. This summer it's back like Moby Dick out for vengeance.
I've cast my net and found these sunken treasures:
From Top To Bottom:
Ursula's Revenge necklace that I made myself
Ship Ring by Etsy Seller Jillian 1984
Sailor Girl Purse by Etsy seller Freddy & Ma
Blue Rope bracelet from Forever 21 (I own this one)
Anchor Necklace from Forever 21
Shoes from ModCloth
Sailor Necklace from Etsy Seller A Resin Revival
Seashell necklace from Aldo's
Mermaid necklace from Etsy Seller For The Cross Jewelery
Blue polka dot shoes from Irregular Choice
Fish Purse by Etsy Seller Pete & Paul
and Lobster Necklace from ModCloth

I'll be back at the end of the day to post my dress of the day and purse of the day.
Happy Wednesday everyone!
p.s. Thanks all so much for always leaving so many positive comments, they all make me so happy :)

Plastic Fantastic

2010-04-27T22:34:00.004-04:00

Channeling my inner Carmen Miranda today. I felt like wearing something bright and cheerful. The dress I scored at a clothes swap last year. I'll be attending another one in a week, so looking forward to some great finds. The necklace I made (yup those are those powder filled candy fruits) I strung them together using safety pins. The shoes are from Aldo's, they used to be the yellow colour and tan, but I scuffed the toes all up, so I painted them with nail polish.
Cardigan is Faith 21
Belt Laura
Stockings Forever 21
Purse vintage from Value Village.

Grocery Shopping with the Princess

2010-04-26T23:29:00.005-04:00

Today's photo shoot (and by photo shoot I mean the Grumpy Danish begrudgingly taking a couple pictures) was taken at the Grocery Store. I usually work till 9ish and often need to grab groceries afterwords, so I decided to multi-task and get two things done at once. Only got a couple pictures and then got spooked when I heard an announcement about security scanning the store, so I stopped. Didn't get a lot of pictures of today's dress, so included one of me wearing it from before. The picture of me with the hat was taken at work one day when we had dress like your favourite decade day. lol, I think only two of us participated, so I stuck out even more then usual. I'd wear all but the hat on a daily basis though. The dress is yet another one from Ricki's (damm I buy a lot from them)
Rest of the outfit is:
Flower Pin: Vintage Trifari, picked up at a Garage Sale
Pink Bracelet: Thrifted from Value Village
Multi-Coloured Bracelet: Borrowed from my mama, she got it from Claire's
Purse: Vintage
Shoes: Zellers
Stockings: Forever 21, they're the type with the seam up the back, tried taking a picture, but didn't turn out so well.
Well 4 days down on the dress challenge, 23 to go. Not sure if I own that many more dresses, but I'm attending a clothing swap in a week or so, so maybe I can snag a couple more. Purse challenge I've lost track of which day I'm on, but fortunately I have plenty more where that came from, so I'm still good awhile.

Hey, That's MY dress!!

2010-04-25T19:48:00.010-04:00

Spent another day mostly in bed. Feeling a fair bit better now, so back to work I go tomorrow. I'm currently waiting for the Grumpy Danish to send me today's pics so I can get them posted, so decided to look through my blogroll. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon someone else wearing MY dress! Ok, I got it from H&M and a lot of people probably have the same dress, but I've never actually stumbled upon someone having the same clothing as me let alone discovered it while actually wearing the article of clothing. Check out http://flingfatshionforward.blogspot.com/ lol, Fortunately I've been following her blog for a little while and really like it, and she looks fab in the dress, so I won't have to start a catfight or anything. Plus it's interesting to see how two people wear the same piece of clothing. We went with completely different looks.
OUR dress is from H&M. Shopping about a month ago, I spotted it from across the store. I snatched it up and checked out the price: $18! That's crazy! Then I looked through the sizes, biggest size: 12! THAT's crazy! I decided to give it a try anyways and was pleasantly surprised when it fit. The buttons tend to pop open up top on occasion, but hey, it just makes the dress more fun that way. It's like a constant surprise party, you never know when you're going to get flashed some boob.
The rest of the outfit is:
Stockings: Givenchy from Winners
Shoes: Alfred Sung from Zellers
Purse: Gift from Marie
Earrings: Aldo's
Belt: piece of wide ribbon from Fabricland
Jacket: Addition Elle

Sick Day

2010-04-24T22:51:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned in my earlier post I wasn't feeling well, so took a sick day and spent the majority of the day sleeping. It was very tempting to just spend the remainder of the day in pajamas, but I find if I make myself brush my hair, put on some makeup and get dressed I feel a bit better. Managed to drag my sorry butt outside for the Grumpy Danish to take a couple pictures so I could show off my dress of the day. Spent most of the rest of the day just relaxing and plan to do the same tomorrow.
Dress today is yet another one from Ricki's. Bought it a couple months ago, but it's actually my first time wearing it. It was on super duper clearance for about $8. What's great about this 27 dresses in 27 days challenge is that it makes me dig out the frocks I haven't worn or don't wear often instead of relying on a few faves. So thanks again Jennifer :)
Cardigan is from Reitmans
Shoes Costa Blanca
Bracelets Chinatown in Toronto
Necklace vintage
Purse thrifted from Value Village
stockings Forever 21
Belt piece of ribbon I bought from Fabricland

I am doll parts

2010-04-24T14:09:00.002-04:00

I woke up this morning not feeling great. I crawled out of bed and called in sick and then crawled back in bed and slept. A long time. Like till 2pm. I haven't slept that much in a long long time. Apparently I should more often though, because when I finally woke up and fired up the laptop I found I'd been given a Sugar Doll Award by Jennifer at one of my fave blogs http://jasiferlionsclub.blogspot.com/.
Thanks Doll!
Rules:
1) Thank and link the person who gave you the award.
2) Pass this award onto fabulous bloggers of your choice.
3) Contact said blogs and let them know they've won.
4) Re-post and state 10 things about yourself.

Narrowing down some fabulous bloggers is REALLY hard, there's so many blogs I read and love. I tried to choose ones that are smaller or haven't received awards before. So here goes my list:
http://www.tabayag.com/
I first fell in love with Sarah when she wrote about stealing a dresser from a cute blond moppet. She's feisty and funny.
http://city-gypsy.blogspot.com/
Hailing from London the gypsy is a free spirit who's beautiful curly hair perfectly matches her personality. She seems to pour a lot of heart into each one of her posts and is far more eloquent then I could ever dream of being.
http://foraysinfatshion.com/
I've featured her blog one time before. The fact that she decided to start her blog after getting stoned is reason enough to give her an award. (She's also really stylish and incredibly beautiful)
http://mtlfashionplussize.blogspot.com/
My fellow lovely Canuck is from Montreal. She's currently on hiatus so she can travel Europe (lucky!) But she'll be back May 24th. In the mean time, look though her previous posts to see her awesome vintage style.
http://deborahestelle.blogspot.com/
Her hair alone deserves and award, it's amazing! She also has a fierce style and personality.
http://thefrogseyebrows.blogspot.com/
Another fellow Canadian, the frog's eyebrows loves old movies and she looks like she was magically transported from one. She's got this wholesome likability to her and looks kinda like the funkiest librarian you'll ever see.

So, now for 10 things about me:
1. My hair colour today, is not my natural colour. I'm actually like a dark blond. (as seen in my wedding picture) I dye it on a monthly basis. I feel like the dark hair suits me better somehow.
2. I'm consider myself a feminist. Some people may think wearing lipstick and heels is an oxi-moron with being a feminist, but I'm a woman and proud of it. I also don't hate all men, just the bastard ones that deserve it.
3. For a long time I was quite a tomboy. Not so much in the being athletic sense, but the not dressing feminine sense. Back in grade 5 I used to love wearing big earrings and such, but then some other kids made comments and I stopped. In highschool I mostly wore pants, when I did wear a skirt some girl made a bitchy comment, so again I stopped. I hit puberty before a lot of the other girls did and was very self conscious about my body. I remember back in grade 7 thinking I was huge and looking back in pictures from that time now, I was fine. Now I dress for me and I like myself a lot better then I ever used to.
4. I love reading. From an early age I loved to get lost in a book. Often when life's gotten tough they were a way to escape. I also read pretty quickly, I can usually finish a book in a day or two.
5. I long to travel, growing up I'd hear all these amazing stories about places where people in my family had been to like Lebanon, Japan, Cyprus, Holland, Saudi Arabia etc. My grandfather was a peacekeeper, so got stationed in the middle east and my uncle was a civil engineer and worked all over the world. I haven't made it very far yet, but my goal last year was to make it to a different country, so I took a trip to Cuba (lol, actually two trips) and this year my goal is to make it to another continent.
6. My favourite food is Middle Eastern food. As I said above, my grandpa was stationed in the Middle East, so my grandma and mom visited him stayed there for a few months and learned to love the food. Growing up I ate things like Baba Ganoush, Shawarma, Tabbouleh and Baklava (along with the usual North American food like Kraft Dinner, mashed potatoes etc as well)
7. I love movies. Along with books they've also always been a way of escaping. One of my favourite things to do is to sit in a darkened theatre for a few hours and travel to other times and places. Unfortunately the Grumpy Danish has a horrible taste in movies, so I don't get to see as many good ones as I'd like.
8. I'm kinda on the shy side and a bit of a loner at times. I like people, but I'm cool spending time by myself as well. I don't do well at mingling and meeting new people. I've had the same two best friends forever (became friends with Marie when I was 8 and Kat-o-Gram when I was about 11)
9. I'm an overgrown child. I love cotton candy, blowing bubbles, swinging, jumping in puddles, going to the zoo and being immature in general.
10. Speaking of puddles, one of my favourite memories is from when I was probably about 12, Marie and I used to run outside when it was raining and dance in the rain and jump in puddles. We used to used Garbage's song 'I'm only happy when it rains' at the top of our lungs. I'm sure all the neighbours thought we were bonkers.

I'll return later today to show off today's frock. (lol, I have yet to put it on as I'm still in my p.j.'s)

It's a no pants party!

2010-04-23T21:27:00.008-04:00

Prepare to start seeing a lot more of my legs! Today is day one of no pants for 27 days. For the near future I will resist the temptation to throw on a pair of jeans and instead parade around in frocks and skirts for your viewing pleasure. Such an important occasion called for a new dress, so I found this one last night. It was on clearance for $14 and it's so comfy. Feels like wearing pajamas. It's from Joe Fresh. The rest of the outfit is:
Necklace: Forever 21
Stockings: Liz Claiborne from Winners
Shoes: Zellers
Furry Grey Cat: Tinkerbell (the manly cat)
Purse: Vintage found at the Salvation Army yesterday
Ring: Aldos'
Belt: Walmart

Parks and Recreation

2010-04-22T20:21:00.003-04:00

Part two of my day I grabbed Betsy (that sounds much more risque then it is, I decided my bike needs a name, so she's called Betsy) and headed to the park. Managed to whipe out once on the way turning a corner. lol, guess that old expression about not forgetting how to ride a bike isn't true. (until about a month ago I hadn't rode a bike in 15 or so years) Had a nice ride in the park and snapped some pics. Today's bling of the day I picked up last Christmas at a church baazar. Bazaars are great for picking up cheap jewelery and household items. The bag of the day is one I found on clearance at Walmart for about $5. It's not real fancy, but it holds a lot and is comfy to wear over your shoulder. Now I'm heading to go out to dinner with my mom. All in all it's been a good day. Feels good to get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Today my heart swings

2010-04-22T19:39:00.012-04:00

Spent a lovely day in solitude. Lately when I've had a day off I've been spending the day with family or friends or running errends or going into work to do projects, so it was nice to spend a day alone with no schedule. I slept in and then headed downtown and had a delicious lunch. I had linguine and some yummy tiramisu for dessert. Then I spent some time poking around some of the little shops downtown. I picked up the latest copy of Bust (an awesome magazine for those you that haven't read it) and went down by the lake to read it. One of the things I love about Barrie is that it has a great waterfront. I found a sunny spot on a rock and read for an hour or so and then went for a stroll on the boardwalk. I love the feeling of walking on the boardwalk, the way it feels beneath your feet and the sound of your footsteps. The picture of the sculpture shows off Barrie's eiffel tower or empire state building, it's called the spirit catcher and is featured prominently in any pictures of Barrie. I ended up at the park and decided to swing. I sat my bottom in one of the swings and proceeded to push off with my feet. Nope, that wasn't going to work. Swings are made for children, not my hips. ouch. Luckily I looked across and saw the saucers, now they're just right. Best part about them is that you can lie down and swing away. I think adults would be healthier and happier if we swinged more. I'm not sure why I ever stopped.

Brigette Bardot has got nothing on me!

2010-04-22T11:21:00.003-04:00

Bardot was known for her bedhead, ladies & gentlemen I present to you: my bed head.
Ok, maybe she was known for having sexy bedhead, she might have me beat there, but I'm pretty sure my bedhead could take hers on in a bar fight. The Grumpy Danish is a lucky man, he gets to wake up and see this every morning. (well almost this. To be honest I did throw on some lipstick before taking the picture) Today is my Saturday, so think I'm going to head downtown and hang out by the waterfront. I'll return later to post some BOTD pics and my purse of the day. (hopefully with some better looking hair too) Also starting tomorrow I'll be joining Jennifer on her 27 dresses challenge. http://jasiferlionsclub.blogspot.com/ She's wearing 27 dresses in 27 days. She bent the rules a little bit and is allowing skirts too, which I'll probably have to take advantage of. I wear skirts and dresses probably 80% of the time anyways, but I have a few favourites I wear often, so this will encourage me to mix it up.
Like giveways? Me too, but I'm too broke for now to do my own, so visit my girl at
http://divaindeepthought.blogspot.com/ for a chance to win a Torrid Gift card or a Sephora gift card.

On the good ship lollipop

2010-04-21T19:09:00.002-04:00

I got to escape the office today to attend a meeting. The meeting wasn't all that exciting, but there was a candy table! They had a table setup with bowlfuls of it, I pity anyone that was trying to diet. We couldn't resists posing for a picture with the giant lollipops. What was also cool about attending the meeting was that I got off work and there was still daylight. I usually work till about 9pm, so I took advantage of the daylight and got the Grumpy Danish to take a couple pictures in the park. So are you guys sick of seeing this dress yet? lol, cause I'm sure not, I love it, it's so comfy. I wear it every week or two.
Outfit today is, dress from Ricki's
Stockings from We Love Colors
Shoes from Costa Blanca (the dress looks better with heals, but I was on my feet a lot, and these shoes are great for walking)
Necklace, made myself
Cardigan from Old Navy (had taken it off by the afternoon, so it's not in all the pics)
and purse was a Christmas present.

New Lease on Life

2010-04-21T00:02:00.007-04:00

So I'm officially moving on June 15th, The Grumpy Danish and I signed the lease today. For those of you new to the blog (welcome!) That means one very exciting thing: Closet room. No, not just more room in my closet, I mean the entire spare bedroom is going to be my closet. Mwa ha ha. I can't wait!
Continuing today's 30 purses in 30 days challenge is one of my wicker purses (I have 3 or so) I love the shape of this one. It too is also vintage.
Bling of the day is a ring from H&M, vintage necklace and earrings from my Haitian Grandma. (now, you're probably thinking I don't look very Haitian, you caught me, I'm not. But she was my best friend's Grandma and she used to babysit me when I was about 8 and I always called her grandma, so I considered her family)
Dress is from Giant Tiger
Stockings Forever 21
Shoes Zellers.