Check These Out

One of the blogs I like to read, Niotillfem, is Swedish - I think. To be honest, until really recently there was no translation, now there is extremely brief translation (that doesn't even begin to touch on the text of the post), and I can't seem to figure it out. So if it's Norwegian or Finnish or some other Scandi language, my apologies...

Point is, this woman takes awesome pictures. And because I really don't know what she's saying, I've got it in my mind that she's a very privileged, very chic young person who's living the high-life with her (seemingly zillions of) friends in one beautiful locale after another, looking fantastic all the while. Do you agree?

Recently she did a post about A Home For Alice. Have you heard about this project? Billed as a "world wide art project", the artist (Alice) is compiling photos and written descriptions from people all over the world who write to her to tell them why they feel at home in their homes.

Something tells me Miss C. should give this a go. Her outrageously splendid home would definitely make the cut.

Wish me good shopping vibes (the kind that bring gorgeous finds at an absurdly low price) and I'll write when I'm back from Mtl.

Easy as (Page) 1 2 3

Enc tagged me ages ago to do this fascinating game...

Here's how it works:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

It took me a while do do it because reading books hasn't been top on the list lately... Ah, literacy!

So, my book is Lust in Translation: Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee by Pamela Druckerman.

Here are the sentences:

About a year after beginning the affair with Danielle, he finally left the therapist he'd been seeing for six years. "I solved the problems," he explains. "The problems were marriage and sex."

See how adultery can save you some cash :-)

I'd be intrigued to see what the following bloggers may come up with:

Imelda Matt
Super Kawaii Mama
Strawberry Kitten
The Coveted

and anyone else who wants to have a go...

Secret Agent Spy-Wear

Secret Agent Spy Plays Gallery Owner

Secret Agent Spy Does Soviet Chic while channelling Stella McCartney

Secret Agent Spy takes tickets at Safari World

I think I'd need to do a little professional transition to wear these believably...

(All images are from Loewe Resort 09.)

Is It My Imagination...

...or is this unconscionably awful?

VPL Resort 09

When Your Shopping Budget is in the Crapper (Like, For Real...)

For a girl who likes to tell virtual strangers all about her fashion blog, I haven't exactly been pulling out the eye candy these past few days. Of course, there was the "vacation" and then the sickness (still too evident for my liking) and the kid's sickness (on the mend) and the home renovation (?!?!?!). Today it was all I could do to get dressed and walk out the door (without flashing a tiling guy). I mean, somehow, I managed to wear a patent burgundy belt and cherry red gladiator sandals together. Do we really need to document that ??

Remember, I will be going to Mtl this weekend - new home of the world's largest uranium stash - so it's sure to be a shopping bang :-)

But, back to the mundane details that are taking front and centre:

Look, I know I'm not the first girl to have a bathroom redone. And I do have another bathroom I can use in the meanwhile. And I do realize that many people renovate without the benefit of a designer and a team of skilled professionals. (Note: Perhaps those are the ones who still have some money left for food when it's all said and done :-)) Not to mention, said team is doing excellent, clean work, if at a slower pace than I would optimally prefer. And then there are all those things no one can predict. Don't worry, I intend to spare you the details.

But if you know anything about me by now it's that I am a whiner who doesn't like to feel out of control. In. Any. Way. Who loathes mess like only a card-carrying obsessive compulsive can. And who's a bit of a drama queen. With a cold. And a toilet in a box in the dining room.

To forestall eye glaze, I'll desist from discussing the electrical and the subfloor in favour of posting some photos shortly. That's if I ever get around to snapping the befores. Because, if you can't see me in a new vintage frock you should at least glimpse some seriously stylish shower tile. It's channelling a fancy paillette gown. Honest.

Got My Game On - One

So Tavi, fashion sweetie that she is, tagged me to do this fun game that's been going around...

For starters, here are the rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.

The Songs (they're more about the vibe than the cred):

F**k and Run (by everyone's fave fin-de-siecle feminist misfit, Liz Phair) She was badass in her day.

A Trick of the Tail (Genesis) My husband terms this (scarily) "progrocklite". And he was there so he should know.

You Belong to Me (either Carly Simon OR Michael McDonald - you know, that really old guy from the Doobie Brothers in the 70's). I've always wondered who penned the song, because both renditions are totally excellent and each artist really seems to own it. Thanks to wikipedia for advising that they actually co-wrote it!

It's Different for Girls (Joe Jackson) All out proto-new wave. Is that Elvis Costello singing backup??

You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb (Spoon) Believe it or not, my (then 4-year old) kid turned me onto this band a few years ago.

Angie Baby (Helen Reddy) DO NOT LAUGH (if you're even old enough to remember who this woman is). So what if I danced to her variety show in my night gown tied at the side with a rubber band in 197_? She was pretty and I got to stay up late. Anyway, just give this song a chance. It's almost disco and the words are whack. Seriously. Imelda, can you pls. corroborate??

Great DJ (The Ting Tings) So good to rock out to when you get out of the shower.

The Tagees:

I'm so late to the game here that I'm fairly certain everyone has done this already. And between the post-vacation stress and the many posts I read daily, I can't exactly remember if my blog friends below have taken up the challenge:

Miss White
Sister Wolf
Imelda Matt
Dreamecho
Fruchtzwerg
Yulanda
Terren

Of course, every reader has a tacit invitation to participate, should (s)he so choose!

Sometimes reality is such a bitch...

What I Left:



What I Came Home to:

• A miserable chest cold, product of too much relaxation after too much life craziness.
  
• A child on hospital watch with dozens of scary-ass bites that seemed to contribute to a heightened immune response causing hives around mouth and highly enlarged (i.e. visible from above the skin) lymph nodes. (She's improving, fyi.)
  
• A half-complete bathroom reno - forgive me for neglecting to mention this but I was in denial, all details to come soon, I'm sure you're beyond thrilled to know. Upshot is that all the demolition was supposed to be done and everything except a couple of key features in place upon my return. But instead the new toilet is in my dining room (boxed, thankfully) and walls are untaped (construction-speak for "all there is is blueboard right now") and there are tiles all over my exceedingly narrow hallway. Did I mention the dust?? Which, btw, just makes the chest cold that much more hideous.
  
• A migraine (I get about one of these a year) which came on the heels of discovering that I had written out two exceeding large cheques to the designer and contractor and, in my pre-vacation fatigue and frisson, neglected to transfer money from the line of credit into the chequing account. So those cheques bounced and the NSF fee was 80 bucks, not to mention I had to get to the bank on Saturday to have a certified cheque made out because the contractor is half-way through the job and (I suppose, rightfully) suspicious. Rule one of renovations: Don't piss off your contractor.

Note to reader: I cannot believe I did this. How wretchedly ineffective of me. You must know that I have never bounced a cheque in my entire life. Like not even for $30.00. So this filled me with horror and embarrassment the likes of which made my blood vessels dilate super quickly, and then to immediately contract. Hence the horrendous, day-long migraine - including ocular hallucinations! (These are different than antihistamine hallucinations, btw...)

Wow, could I be less post-vacation rosy glow? Do you just want to smack me at this point?

I promise, give me a couple of days and you'll hear all about the good stuff. And then, you may recall, I'm off to Montreal for a fast-track weekend of eating and shopping. I'm so bringing the camera for that one.

PS: I'm putting together answers to a couple of games I was tagged to do. Oh, and just getting back into my blog-reading groove now. Can't wait to hear what y'all have been up to...